Kisai Yamada Sold at Auction Prices

YAMADA KISAI: A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF RAKAN KALIKA

YAMADA KISAI: A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF RAKAN KALIKA By Yamada Kisai (active 1864-1901), signed Nan’etsu Kisai Japan, late 19th century, Meiji period (1868-1912) The intricate carving depicts the Rakan Kalika holding a scroll and dressed in elaborate flowing robes, leaving the chest bare, riding on an elephant that holds a reishi fungus in his trunk. The bottom with a neatly incised artist signature reading NAN’ETSU KISAI (Kisai of South Etchu region). Note the finely inlaid eyes in black horn of both the elephant and the rakan. The tusks of the elephant are inlaid in carved stag antler. LENGTH 27 cm Condition: One of the tusks has been reattached. Minor loss to tip of reishi. One tiny age crack. Naturally grown golden-brown patina, nicely enhancing the characteristic grain of the wood. Provenance: From an Austrian private collection. Kept in the same family since the first half of the 20th century and thence by descent. Yamada Kisai was born into a family of Buddhist wood sculptors, originally from Fukui prefecture (southern Etchu province). It was Okakura Tenshin (1862-1913, also known as Okakura Kakuzo) who initially discovered the talent in young Yamada Kisai and encouraged him to study wood sculpting under him and Takamura Koun, at Tokyo School of Fine Art. Yamada Kisai taught wood sculpture as professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Art. One of his most representative works is a huge bronze statue of samurai Kusunoki Masashige, located at the Imperial Palace Plaza. This was made in 1897 in collaboration with the leading sculptors of the time Takamura Koun, Ishikawa Komei, Goto Sadayuki and Yamada Kisai. The wooden model was finished in 1893, the final bronze work in 1897. RefPor211119