“The Author Stands Absolutely at the Head of his Class”–Kunz

SOMA, Kuninosuke (pen-name: Senrei).

Zoge chokokuho [trans.: Technique of Ivory Carving & Sculpture].

Many woodcut illus. in the text. 45; 30 folding leaves. Large 8vo, orig. patterned wrappers, orig. block-printed title labels on upper covers, new stitching. Tokyo: Kinbe Yoshida, 1900.

Second edition, enlarged (the first edition of 1890, privately printed, is very rare), of this classic Japanese work on ivory carving. Kuninosuke Soma, whose pen-name was Senrei Soma, was one of the leading ivory carvers of his time (see Encyc. Brit.). George Frederick Kunz, in his magisterial Ivory and the Elephant in Art, in Archaeology, and in Science (1916), wrote “this new book of Mr. Sen-rei is a brilliant achievement. Students will understand what I mean, a treasure house of valuable information for those who have any wish to utilize it. The author stands absolutely at the head of his class” (p. 272).

The fine illustrations depict the tools employed by the ivory carver, problems of measurement and proportion, scenes of a carving workshop, the various steps of transforming a piece of ivory into a highly complex carving, etc.

Soma, a native of Mutsu province (today’s Tohoku region), exhibited his carvings at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Fine set of a fascinating and beautifully illustrated work.

Price: $2,650.00

Item ID: 6133