Featured Japanese? Figurine, need any info on material, identification

I have recently acquired this little figurine, which I am already rather fond of. I would really like to know if he represents a particular person, and what he is doing clambering over rocks while clutching something - a flower or fruit? - in one hand. I love his face and benevolent smile. I am assuming he is carved in stone, but of course I could easily be wrong. In some ways he is well-carved, with his nose being particularly fine, but his body is oddly proportioned, I think his legs are far too short for the body. I like the way he is posed with one foot up on a rock. He is about 1.8 inches tall. One eye has been coloured black while the other shows fine carving of the pupil, I am thinking of trying to wash away the black, if that is possible. And does anyone have an idea of the age?

 

Now, THIS one actually looks like he might be a Netsuke, what with the uneven sized holes on the back of him, although, I've not seen one with a double set of holes or am I just not seeing them accurately??!! Others should be along with more comments!!!!

 

Are the holes all the way through, as they would be with a netsuke? It's hard to tell. It doesn't look like stone to me... more like the I-word.

 

I'm not seeing an schreger lines. Do tagua nuts come that big?

 

I thought I saw lines on the lower front, visible in the first picture. It might be the carver's design too...

 

I think those are carved into it.

 

Great question. I just bought what I believe is a Tagua nut carving the other day. It would be my first tagua piece. I was googling others and some appear quite large! Turns out you can buy XL grade nuts that are 3” L x 2” W. There must be some even larger.

 

I don’t blame you one bit for being fond of him! I would be too. As for the body proportions, I think his legs are longer than they appear from the front. From the back, it looks to me like his sash dips lower in the front, which makes his torso look longer. As someone with a freakishly short torso, it’s something I notice because I do it myself. Also, from the angle of his left calf, it appears his left knee is bent.

Of course he could just be someone with short legs. My ex is such a person. Between my odd proportions and his, we wore almost the same inseam, despite the fact that he was 8 inches taller!

The artist may have been limited by the size of the piece he started with, too, but given the apparent skill shown elsewhere, I don’t feel that the proportions are a result of mistake or lack of skill. I could just be prejudiced because I like it though!

 

I would lean toward tagua nut. If it is elephant ivory, schreger lines should be visible on the bottom/cross section. But the photo is not clear enough to see. The chip at his feet might also be instructive, but again, the photo is too blurry. It appears to be a relatively soft, and well worn material, as if someone carried him around in a pocket. Not a netsuke, though.

 

Shouxing, maybe--Chinese god of longevity.

 

Sorry that the photos aren't clearer, the first one shows them best. The little holes do not go very far in, and seem to be a kind of decoration for the rock, perhaps drilled or burnt in with a broad needle. I would dearly love a netsuke, but I fear this is not one!

 

As in my reply to Aquitaine, the holes are very shallow and just part of the design. I am no expert in this, but it does feel to me like stone rather than ivory, hard and polished to a glossy surface. I really hope it isn't ivory; the only thing I have to compare is an antique Indian egg cup, which is nothing like this, but I'm hoping that may be bone!

 

There are several small cracks which run down into the rock, as well as some carved shaping.

I think you may well be right. If his bottom comes to just below his sash, then his legs would not be particularly short. Oddly enough I also have short legs, when sitting down I am not noticeably short, but when standing up I am well below average height! I suspect you and me would look rather strange standing side by side, especially in bikinis! (Perish the thought!) On the other hand, if the carver started from the top he might have run out of room close to the base.

 

The texture and shine of these carvings do look a lot like mine, and I would really like the one of the rhino myself! Are the nuts exported over the world, since some carvings show African animals and Chinese gods? It seems to me to be a very viable substitute for ivory, although limited in size. I've just been looking at tagua nut carvings on ebay, and although most are much simpler than this, others have some fine detail. I like the idea shown by some of leaving part of the nut visible so that the carvings are not mistaken for ivory. Also that the Ecuadorians are making a living from the trees, so help to preserve the rainforest, while the nuts replace ivory. I do hope my carving proves to be a tagua nut, I must try to find a local expert who will be able to handle it and give me a definitive answer, which is hard to get from photos. Thank you very much for the information.

 

Many thanks for this, I had been trying to identify him without success, and a god of longevity seems to make perfect sense! (I'm getting to the age when he would be my god of choice, no wonder I like him so much!) Do you think that makes the carving Chinese? I have been having a look at photos of depictions of Shouxing, and the long fine beard and high forehead look just the same. The photos I've found depict the fruit as a peach, and the fruit shown in mine is rather flat and rosette-shaped at the top, but I've just read that he may carry a gourd filled with the elixir of life, which could well be the right shape. I had thought it might be some kind of sea creature. What a lot one learns when posting objects on this forum, so much knowledge to tap into!

 

I don't think he's Shouxing. Should be holding a peach and a long staff (certainly longer than the short cane he seems to be holding) - and the peach wouldn't have letters (?) carved into it. His hair and beard are also different, and his head larger.

 

I agree he isn't exactly like Shouxing, but there are many similarities. The object he is holding is not a peach but I think it is a gourd (containing an elixir of life), as mentioned on a web page I found. It doesn't have any writing on, at the top it has a kind of rosette of grooves found on gourds like pumpkins - I'll attach a photo here. I know there are many differences - he hasn't got the high domed head, nor the long staff, in fact the stick he has wouldn't be much use to anyone, you would have to bend down to use it! There is no particular reason for the deity to be clambering on a rock. Maybe the artist was depicting his own grandfather as the deity, to have a bit of fun! But he is both aged and benevolent, and he will be my little talisman, even if he is just "old man on rock, holding gourd". And I'll be careful around anyone Chinese who might tell me off for calling him Shouxing!

 

I like that! The item he is carrying also resembles some of the uncarved tagua nuts I've seen online. But that isn't likely, is it?

 

The idea that he is carrying a nut like the one he is carved from is a wonderful thing to meditate on, I really like it! But unfortunately I think not, the object is quite round, and rather pie-shaped with a grooved upper surface. I think tagua nuts are more smooth and like lumpy kiwi fruits to my eye. I wonder if it would be possible for someone to carve out a figure of someone carving a nut into the shape of someone carving a nut . . .