Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries


Visitors' Forum

Asian Art  Forums - Reply Message
Asian Art Forums

Message Listing by Date:
Message Index | Back | Post a New Message | Search | Private Mail | FAQ
Subject:Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: Puerblo Wed, Aug 09, 2017 IP: 110.44.127.206

If anyone can confirm the signature on this Japanese piece i would appreciate it, I believe it is Ikko Kazumitsu, this is a masterpiece sculpted japanese Meji Snow Monkey. I acquired this piece from a 7 million dollar Beverly Hills estate, it was owned by a woman who turns out was an authority/expert on the Finest Asian Antiques and Art, it is 12 inches Tall !2 inches deep and about 10 inches wide and very heavy , sculpted out of Japanese pottery an absolutely masterful lifelike piece of meji art , museum quality.
if anyone has any info on the signature please let me know , thanks







Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: Martin Michels Wed, Aug 09, 2017

Im my opinion the mark is: Ikko 一光 Zo 造 (made by Ikko).
Regards,
Martin.

Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: Bill H Thu, Aug 10, 2017

Martin, thanks for the information. I had been trying to find information online to clear up which of the potential names was the right one for the characters 一光. Some museums and auction houses seem to have added to the confusion with references to "Ikko/Kazumitsu" without noting that both names derive from the same characters.

For anyone interested, according to the JDIC, an online Japanese-English dictionary that supports the Unicode Organization, "一光" can be: a female given name "Ikkou" or "Ikko" (いっこう); given name as-yet unclassified by sex "Kazumitsu" (かずみつ); given name as-yet unclassified by sex "Kazuteru" (かずてる); surname Ikari (いかり); given name as-yet unclassified by sex "Ichikou" (いちこう); given name as-yet unclassified by sex "Ichimitsu" (いちみつ); female given name "Itsumi" (いつみ); and female given name "Hitomi" (ひとみ).

It would appear that carvers or sculptors using the name "Ikko" spanned the late Edo through early Showa periods, or potentially the better part of a century. Obviously, Ikko is not a single individual. At best, the name could have been used by a succession of generations in the same family, or on the dark side, by a profusion of copyists. (MARTIN: Is it reasonable to believe that a female artist named Ikko would have been working in this field during the Edo and Meiji periods?)

While looking for a biography of Ikko, I found a Trocadero dealer's referral of parties interested in Ikko to the book "Netsuke & Inro Artists and How to Read their Signatures" by George Lazarnick (an 'ouch' price of $3,800 for one in hardcover at Amazon). The Ikko mark attracted four-figure bids at major auction houses in years gone by, but the "hammer" price in what seems to be the auction for the Puerblo example (LINK) is listed on liveauctioneers.com as only $340.00 (the liveauctioneer description referred to restoration of an ear, which may have diminished the figure). A French Troc Shop was asking 900 euros US$1053.88 for a 19th C Ikko netsuke depicting a monkey and young.

By comparison, an upscale Orlando, Florida shop where I bought the unmarked but probable Kutani 4.4-inch high model of a monkey, shown in the images below, wanted about $300 for it before the haggling started and brought the price down by a third. This likely was one from the traditional "See-Hear-Speak No Evil" trio.

Forgive this long-winded path to my suggestion that more personal research apparently needs to be done to unearth the truth of just who the famous Ikko was...or to find a cheaper copy of the George Lazarnick book, which surely exists in soft cover. If I was more than just an incidental collector of Japanese ceramics, I might take up the challenge myself, but my slate is too full to accommodate the task at the moment.

Good luck,

Bill H.







Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: RogerD Fri, Aug 11, 2017

Bill:
Just in case someone asks, I have a copy of George Lazarnicks's book, "Netsuke & Inro Artists and How to Read their Signatures" which I no longer use. I have now ceased collecting and will only keep some selected pieces.
Regards,
Roger

Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: puerblo Sun, Aug 13, 2017

thanks for all the feedback , the beautiful thing about collecting is being in the right place at the right time , when you are lucky to be in an auction where either the auction house hadn't advertised to the right buyers or those high end buyers didn't see the item coming up on the auction block , hence the $ 360 I got it for ,(the ear has a professional repair but doesn't take anything away from the piece . it was appraised in the thousands not hundreds , so I got very lucky on it for sure .



Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: Guy Thu, Aug 10, 2017

IMO, this is probaly a Bizen ware (備前焼, Bizen-yaki) okimono.
The maker's name can be pronounced indeed as 'Ikkô' or eventually in the native Japanese manner as 'Kazumitsu'.

Search for 'Bizen okimono'.

Guy.

Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: Bokaba Thu, Aug 10, 2017

Excellent example of Meiji Period realistic sculpture I would think.

Bokaba

Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: I. Nagy Thu, Aug 10, 2017

The artist could be Yokohagi Ikko (横萩一光)
Under the same (Ikko) name 3 generations of ceramic artists and painters are known since 1868.
Even the Japanese language web sites can not offer much more information about them.
I surmise the monkey was made by the second
generation Ikko (1850-1924).
With regards,

Post a Reply
Name:
Email:
Group: China & Japan
Subject:
Message:
Link URL:
Enter here the complete URL of any site, page or image you would like to show other visitors.
URL Title:
Enter here the title of the link you've given above. This will appear to the visitor. Eg., if you are linking another picture, enter "Another picture". The link will not appear without a title.
Image URL:
Enter here the URL of an image if it is already uploaded on the web. The image will appear with your posting. Do not post pictures which are not yours without permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure they have permission to use any photos they post.
Image: You may upload up to three images. If you would like to upload more images to this message please do so by replying to this same message.

Please make sure the file type is JPEG or GIF and the filename does not contain spaces.





Use the Browse button to find an image (jpg or gif) on a local drive on your computer to upload for including with your message. Do not upload images with file names containing spaces. Please do not upload files larger than 500 KB in size. Do not post pictures which are not yours without permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure they have permission to use any photos they post. Check the "email notification" box below if you would like to be notified of any responses to your message.
Check here for email notification.
Security Code: Security Image: please enter the text appears in this image.

Please type in the code you see in the image directly above this input box.

Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: Martin Michels Fri, Aug 11, 2017

To BILL H.

You ask me:
Is it reasonable to believe that a female artist named Ikko would have been working in this field during the Edo and Meiji periods?

In all honesty: I don't know.

What I do know, is that I've seen black-and-white pictures on the internet of female painters working in the Kinkozan studio.
And I own a Sumida vase by Hara Gozan, a female potter, who opened het own kiln in 1879.
So: yes, there were female artists in the Meiji period, perhaps this Ikko is one of them.

Regards,
Martin.

Subject:Re: Japanese Meji Monkey....signature help
Posted By: Bokaba Wed, Aug 16, 2017

Late 19th Century monkey sold at Christie's classified as Kutani.

Bokaba




Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |