A polychromed wood head of an old man. Late 19th century
With realistically carved frowning features and wrinkles to the forehead and cheeks, the mouth open to reveal two fore teeth and a red tongue, the large eyes formerly inlaid in reverse painted glass, the hair combed back without a topknot (chomage). Carved in several sections and originally set into a body.
Height 33.8 cm
Waldemar Abegg (1873-1961) was a German administrative lawyer, first in Oppeln, then in Schleswig, until he was sent into retirement in 1933 for political reasons. The son of a banker in Berlin, he was presented with a trip around the world by his father as a reward for passing his doctoral exams. As an early tourist with a roll-film camera, he left behind an important archive of travel photographs. This head is an example of his interest in people from foreign countries, as expressed in his photographs.
This head probably belonged to a genre of sculptures called iki-ningyo (literally: living dolls) because they were so realistic and lifelike. They represented beautiful women, kabuki actors and grotesque figures from foreign lands. From the 1850s onwards, these life-size figures were presented at fairs in misemono shows, but later they were also made for export, where they showed Westerners the life and customs of the Japanese in great detail.
Provenance
Collection Waldemar Abegg (1873-1961), acquired during a tour around the world in 1905/1906, then sold by a family member at Nagel, Stuttgart, 9.11.2002, lot 1478, Private collection, Southern Germany, acquired at the above auction