Chikuen
19th century
A sashi netsuke carved from a section of bamboo depicting the open-mouthed guardian Nio Agyo from the South Gate of Nara’s Tōdaiji Buddhist temple complex, founded in the 8th century by the Emperor Shōmu. The two fearsome Nio either side of the Nandaimon are the work of the great Kamakura sculptors Unkei and Kaikei. The back is inscribed: 東大寺南大門仁王模 、竹園 (Tōdaiji Nandaimon Nio o mosu, Chikuen) – “copied from the Nio statue at the South Gate of the Tōdaiji Temple. By Chikuen)”.
Little is known of Chikuen, whose art name means “bamboo garden” reflecting his chosen material. A similar piece by the same hand is illustrated in Euronetsuke 60, Winter 2021. Lazarnick (Netsuke & Inro Artists and how to read their signatures,vol.I p.684). records a comparable bamboo carving signed Kyoen and notes that the seldom used signature character 園 (en) is that used by Toen, prompting him suggest that Kyoen was a pupil of Toen, a theory that might also be applied to Chikuen.
