A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF BENKEI Unsigned Japan, Edo (Tokyo), c. 1800, Edo period (1615-1868) Benkei wearing the garb of a Yamabushi warrior-priest with the cap tied to his head and a sword to his side, emerging from a gigantic conch shell, his right leg steadying him as he reads from a scroll of Buddhist precepts. His eyes are inlaid in bone with dark pupils, the conch blowhole is inlaid in bone as well. The underside with two asymmetrical himotoshi, the larger ringed with green-stained bone. LENGTH 6.5 cm Condition: Very good condition with old wear, two faint age cracks, one of them repaired near the himotoshi, and a minuscule nick to the edge of the conch. Provenance: Ex-collection Carlo Monzino, sold at Sotheby's, The Carlo Monzino Collection of Netsuke, Inro and Lacquer, 21 June 1995, London, lot 157. From a private collection in Florida, USA, acquired from the above. The Yamabushi were renegade mountain priests of the Shingon Tantric Buddhist sect, who used the conch to communicate their movements in the mountain wilderness. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related but slightly smaller wood netsuke of Benkei by Mitsushige, dated early 19th century, at Bonhams, Fine Netsuke from a French Private Collection, 4 November 2020, London, lot 28 (sold for 10,687 GBP). 5% VAT will be added to the hammer price additional to the buyer's premium - only for buyers within the EU.