Ryukosai Jugyoku - Shoki netsuke
Edo (Tokyo), circa 1860
Shoki sits on a large tied bundle. His eyes are cast heavenwards, his hands rest on his knees and the long sleeves of his robes and his beard blow back behind him to suggest his dynamic strength. His expression though is strangely glum.
Perhaps after his interminable struggles with his nemesis, he instinctively knows that the oni has already plotted his escape. Behind him the oni’s green face peers out from a hole torn in the bag, its forearm pulling back the cloth and two sharp horns piercing through the fabric. The details are inlaid in green-stained stag antler with inlays of pale horn metal and gold.
