Lot 451 Dα

Kappa with a large awabi shell. Wood and mother-of-pearl. Early 19th century

Signed: Gyokumin with Kakihan
A muscular Kappa walking over a large awabi shell which has caught his left hind leg. The legendary animal is depicted with an expressive face, the eyes inlaid in tin and the depression on its head to retain its supernatural power-giving liquid (although much too flat) made of white mother-of-pearl. The animal, like the shell, is carved from wood with strong details, accentuated by dark areas.
Height 3.9 cm