A Tokyo school ivory netsuke of a cat. Late 19th century
Standing upright and clad in a loosely tied kosode open at the chest and coquettishly lifting the garment in front. The ivory stained for effect. Inscribed Masaka. Late 19th century.
Height 5.3 cm
“Cats are said to be able to turn into young women. The best-known legend is “Nabeshima no neko” (The Cat of Nabeshima), and maybe the cat here represents O Toyo, the lover of a Nabeshima daimyô in Hizen province. The starting point of the long tale is the murder of O Toyo by a huge cat, which subsequently takes on the body of its victim. It is also possible, however, that the figure may represent a prostitute, neko (cat) being a nickname for members of that profession.
A recent interpretation of the subject is that it is an illustration of a popular song of the late eighteenth century, which had a revival in the late Edo period, and begins: Nekoja nekoja to oshaimasu ga, neko ga geta haite/ tsue tsuite/ shibori no yukata de kuru monoka/ choi choi choi choi (I am Neko, I am Neko, a cat who wears geta, who carries a staff, who is dressed in a yukata with shibori design, choi, choi, choi, choi) (Y. Yoshida in: Sagemonoya 2000, p. 136, no. 125).” (Jirka-Schmitz 2005, p. 249)
Provenance
Bonhams, London, 11.5.2010, lot 210