Above right: widely exported during the Meiji period to a Western market newly awake to the skills of Japanese craftsmen, okimono now often appear at provincial salerooms.
Carved in ivory or hardwood, they also cover the same spectrum of subjects: humans, gods, animals or fruit and vegetables – such as this ivory carving of a sweetcorn, offered by Brettells (19.5% buyer’s premium) of Newport, Shropshire, on February.27.