Japan, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868)A small and delicate carving of a young woman, wearing a long flowing robe and floral headdress, holding her small child in her arms. Her garb and the overall manner of carving suggest the lady is Chinese, which in turn indicates she is Kakkyo’s wife from the classic Confucian text The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars. Two asymmetrical himotoshi to the back.HEIGHT 5.2 cmCondition: Good condition, appealingly worn, fine honey-gold patina. The larger himotoshi has been plugged. Natural age cracks.Provenance: French private collection.Literature comparison: A related boxwood netsuke by Garaku is illustrated by Patrizia Jirka-Schmitz (2000) Netsuke: Trumpf Collection, vol. 2, Linden Museum, 2000, no. 83. A closely related wood netsuke, also unsigned, is illustrated in Joly, H. L. (1966) Catalogue of the H. Seymour Trower Collection of Japanese Art, pl. B, no. 131.According to the 9th story of The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars, written by Guo Jujing during the Chinese Yuan dynasty (1260-1368), Guo Ju (Kakkyo) lived with his mother, wife, and son. He was known for being very filial to his mother. However, his family was poor, and Guo became worried when he realized that his family’s food supply was unable to feed four people. After discussing with his wife, they made the painful decision to bury their son alive, so that they would have one less mouth to feed. He also felt that he and his wife could have another child again, but he could not have his mother back if he lost her. While Guo was digging, he discovered a pile of gold and a note which said that the gold was a gift to him from Heaven. With the gold, Guo was able to provide for his whole family.This item contains ivory, rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, and/or some types of tropical wood and is subject to CITES when exporting outside the EU. It is typically not possible to export such items outside of the EU, including to the UK. Therefore this item can only be shipped within the EU or picked up in our gallery in person.