Dated 1793 and inscribed on bottom
Pieced wood construction with gesso and paint
Height: 15.35 x Width: 24 in.
The rotund, amiable, smiling god, Hotei, sits with one hand extended, gesturing as if to speak to us. His great bag of treasures, swollen with collected goods, rests beside him. One of the seven lucky gods, he is found in both Buddhist and Shinto pantheons. The artist chose to replicate the methodology of fashioning Buddhist images, yosegi-zukuri, a pieced wood assemblage coated with gesso and paint and having inlaid glass eyes. The artist, Tomiharu, was the founder of the Iwami school of carvers on the sea of Japan coast near Hagi. They specialized in netsuke and sagemono, but, in this instance, he departed from his usual practice and created an unique and rare artwork imbued with personality.
Published in Rokusho 20, Kobijitsu Rokusho: volume 20, Kyoto, Maria Sho Bo, 1996, No.128 and Huthart, Earle, Joe, Iwami Netsuke Huthart Collection, Hong Kong, 2000, No.1.
The epitome of female beauty from the Heian period, 9th to 12th century, the type was adopted into the Noh theatre repertoire as a young female portrayed in a number of Noh dramas such as KOCHO, the Butterfly. In the play, an itinerant monk encounters a young beauty who laments she cannot experience plum blossoms since they flower in early spring before she metamorphoses into a butterfly. Of course, this is all a dream. The young woman is actually the spirit of a butterfly who is appearing to the monk in a dream.
Ko-Omote is a face recognizable to many people, like Mona Lisa by Leonardo, or the Egyptian Nefertiti bust in Berlin, or Botticelli’s Venus, or Elizabeth Taylor, the actress, or even Barbie. The mask was purchased in Kyoto in 1972 and remained in a collection until recently dispersed. Its carving is excellent, infused with beauty and spirit, and the painting precise and artful. The worn paper label is being translated and may reveal who carved it.
What’s in a Title: Japanese Works of Art from Ancient to Modern
March 12 – 30, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 13 from 4-7pm
Exhibiting at: John Molloy Gallery, 49 East 78 Street, Suite 2B
Asia Week Hours: Mar 12, 3-6pm; Mar 13, 4-7pm; Mar 14, 3-6pm, Mar 15-30, 11am-5pm except Sundays (otherwise by appointment)
An all encompassing show in various media highlighting objects from Japanese art history from the Tumulus period, 3rd to 6th centuries, through contemporary works by Hiroyuki Asano, stone sculptor from Tokyo, and Ted Kurahara, color painter born in Seattle, Washington. Along the way there are wooden sculptures from the Heian period, 9th to 12th centuries and a Hotei of charming and welcoming gesture from the middle Edo period. A few scrolls of calligraphic nature by artist Nobuhiro of Konoe fame and Otagaki Rengetsu, the nun, poet and calligrapher from the late Edo period. Be prepared to be challenged by the variety and to appreciate Japanese style and design throughout the centuries. The Noh masks alone are confrontational.
A long standing private dealer in Japanese and Asian Arts, Carole has been conveniently located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan near the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each year she mounts public shows, usually at public galleries and the Park Ave Armory. Current venues have included the Salon Fair at the Armory as well as the John Molloy Gallery on East 78th Street where 2025 Asia Week New York will be held. Trained in Fine Arts and Art History, objects in all media, from Contemporary and Ancient, are researched and tested if necessary. Aesthetics, provenance and authenticity are keywords to her purchase of an art object. An original member of Asia Week New York, she is invigorated and pleased to rejoin the organization after the Covid epidemic. Everyone is welcome.
