Menuki “Poet So Toba on his mule, and his servant”

Mumei (unsigned), in Shakudo, with gilding.

Menuki “So Toba” dimensions: Width 4.96 x height 1.6 x thickness 0.43 cm / Weight 2.5g

Dimensions Menuki “Servant”: Width 5.00 x height 1.55 x thickness 0.40 cm / Weight 2.5g

Possible production of the Goto or Mito schools during the Edo period (1600-1860), motifs featuring characters from Chinese legends.

So Toba (Su Shi or So Duongpo 蘇東坡 in Chinese) was a Chinese official and poet who lived from 1036 to 1101. He was one of the greatest Chinese writers, he wrote numerous poems, essays and letters. He worked under the Northern Song in the service of Emperors Shenzong and Zhezong. He would have been unjustly banished by the latter following court intrigues. He would then have gone into exile on the back of a mule, dressed in a woven wicker headgear, a book of his poems and a ruyi scepter in his hand, symbols of his former status as an imperial official.

There are some examples of this theme on Tsuba from:
- Shozui (Masayuki) 政随 founder of the Hamamo 浜野 school in Nara
- Naoyoshi 直悦 who first worked in the Hamamo style then studied with Naomasa 直政 of the Yanagawa school 柳川
- Genshosai Masaharu 玄松斎政春 of the Ishiguro school 石黒 with origins in the Mito school 水戸
- Masanaga 正長 founder of the Itoh 伊藤 school in Edo

Representations, like here, on Menuki are much rarer.