Netsuke, No actor Kiyohime, Shuzan, Japan, 19th century

The netsuke is a toggle. Above all they had to have the means of attaching the cord. This is a three-dimensional carving, such as this netsuke of a No actor as Kiyohime. This example is signed Shuzan.

Shuzan considered himself the successor of Yoshimura Shuzan and was called Nagamachi after the Osaka suburb where he lived. He is renowned for painting his netsuke as recorded in the Soken Kisho , by Inaba Tsuryu. This netsuke depicts the character of Kiyohime, a young woman who is scorned by her lover and transforms into a witch and then a serpent to pursue him. Her love, a Buddhist monk, escapes by boat to a temple and hides under a bell. Kiyohime, as a snake, coils around the bell creating such an intense heat that the monk is burnt inside. In this depiction the character of Kiyohime can be deciphered due to the bell-striker in the netsuke's right hand. Figure of a No actor in the role of the witch Kiyohime in carved and painted wood, signed Shuzan, Osaka school