Old Meji Ivory Figurine

[Gerry123]

Here's a beautiful old Meiji ivory figurine.

It weighs 2 kg and is approximately 40 cm tall.

[Gerry123]

[Gerry123]

[ROKUJURO]

The photo with the signature is upside-down.

[John C]

4.4 pounds of ivory - I hesitate to ask what kind. In any case, the detail is stunning. In the second pic, you can see the individual fine chisel (?) marks in the design.

 

John C.

[Gerry123]

I‘m afraid I don‘t know the exact Type but the figurine is going to a certified ivory expert this Month for an appraisal.

 

Regards Gerry

[Bugyotsuji]

Gerry, what kind of appraisal will this expert do?

[Matsunoki]

I can tell you exactly what this is provided you don’t get offended. You don’t need to send it anywhere.

Should I go ahead?

[Gerry123]

@Matsunoki 

I would be very grateful for your opinion/expertise on this!

However, I still need to have the ivory examined by an expert to confirm its authenticity as very old ivory for the purpose of applying for a CITY certificate. Otherwise, I would never be able to sell it legally here again. That's just how it is in Germany, unfortunately.

Your opinion is still important to me,tough.

 

[Gerry123]

@ Bugyotsuji 

It is only an expert opinion confirming the material and that it is older ivory; this is needed in Germany to obtain a Citizens Certificate so that one can sell the figure if one wishes.

 

[Gerry123]

Ivory to Trade his very difficult in Germany without Cities Certificate.

 

Regards Gerry

[Gerry123]

@Matsunoki ,

can you tell me more about this Figurines ? They are made from Wood and Ivory. I found no Signatures

 

Regards Gerry

[Gerry123]

[Gerry123]

They are 16 cm tall

[Gerry123]

These figurines Looks for me Like a modern Work. Is this correct?

 

[Matsunoki]

Hi Gerry

The first ivory….the woodcutter. What you have here is a late Meiji period sectional elephant ivory okimono.  The okimono that emerged during mid Meiji are amongst the finest ivory carvings ever created. They can be astonishing works carved from a solid block. The demand for these grew rapidly and to satisfy that demand the ingenious Japanese started to produce similar looking but lower quality works using assorted offcuts of ivory that were worked and cunningly pegged together with expertly concealed joints. They were produced in large numbers by workshops that employed a variety of skills. Different carvers would produce things like the heads, hands and feet whilst lesser talent would carve the various torso components. This was obviously a much cheaper method than using the hugely expensive solid blocks cut from substantial tusks. It was also much quicker due to many people working in collaboration. 
Your woodcutter is such piece. Don’t know if you have ever looked closely but the head (in this case too big for the body) is separate, the arms are separate joined at the shoulders, the forearms are separate joined where they insert into the robes. The upper torso is separate to the lower joined just above the sash, the legs will be separate etc etc

These “lookalikes” are worth only a small fraction of their higher quality monoblock predecessors and of course with current ivory laws etc they are as you say, difficult to sell. 
Date wise yours is somewhere in the 1880-1910 range.

I have had many of these spread across my restoration bench over the years when the glue gives way and they fall apart!

Out  of interest here  is an example of a similar subject from Bonhams but of a much higher quality and value….

I hope I have not offended or disappointed you.

All the best

Colin

[Matsunoki]

The pair of figures are more modern “gift shop” material and I doubt  they contain any ivory. More likely plastic and bone.

Apologies!

[Gerry123]

Thank you for your assessment and expertise. I'm not disappointed at all; for me, it's still a wonderful piece, and I simply think the craftsmanship is excellent.

Thank you also for the other assessment; I was right that it's modern.

The inlays are indeed made of ivory; you can clearly see the grain under a magnifying glass

[Brian]

Gerry, you HAVE to try to post correctly please. You can't keep posting the way you are, as it's hard to read. Not sure why you haven't got the hang of this.
When you read a post, at the bottom is a box, you type your reply, then click submit. There is nothing more you need to do. Tell us if you are posting from a pc or your phone. But it works the same way.
You just type...click submit. Nothing complicated.

[Davis]

Hi Gerry

I know very little about this subject but have owned a few ivory okimono.  I tend to agree with Colin about quality.  Hands and feet are a good indicator.  The standing gent is poor quality and made from odd bits fitted together.  The kneeling man speaks for himself.

[ROKUJURO]

Gerry,

the confirmation certificate you need for the possession and trade of ivory is not from City, Citizen, or Cities - it is CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). 

And MEIJI era is not "very old" or "old" in the context of Japanese history, culture and arts, it is recent.

You may get information and help from Deutsches Elfenbeinmuseum (https://www.erbach.de/tourismus-freizeit/ausflugsziele/deutsches-elfenbeinmuseum/ )