Wood and ivory netsuke: Dōjōji, carved by Kōnan Minkō

From Japan
Edo period, 19th century AD

Dōjōji, is a Nō drama which tells of the passion of a young girl, Kiyohime, for the monk Anchin. He hid from her under a temple bell. She turned into a dragon, coiled around the bell and fried him with the heat of her passion. The white-tinted face of Anchin can be seen through a crack in the bell.

This netsuke is signed Kōnan Minkō.