Netsuke, ivory, woman and a child, ca.1700-50

This carved ivory netsuke is in the form of a mother holding a naked child to her body, who is looking up at her, while the mother is wearing a simple kimono, which is thrown down off her right arm and shoulder.

This netsuke of a woman and a child is influenced by the Christian image of the Madonna and Child. Around 1580, a thriving ivory carving industry developed in China, centred on Zhangzhou, Fujian province. It produced many religious images for the Portuguese and Spanish on the Asian mainland. The image of the Madonna and Child was widely used in China. It was similar to the Chinese songzi (child-giving) Guanyin (bodhisattva embodying compassion). Many of these Chinese carvings reached Japan. This most unusual netsuke possibly reflects how the religious image became a general image of a mother and child.