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Subject:Re: Pair of Ivory Japanese Figuers
Posted By: Bill H Sat, Jan 03, 2015
Stylistically your carvings seem to me as likely done by a Chinese carver. Their apocryphal marks both read down from the top right in seal script as "Great Ming Chenghua" (Da Ming Cheng Hua - 大明成化). They appear to represent the Tang scholar Li Bo in the pose of sleeping off effects of wine after one of his reputedly frequent bouts of overindulgence.
You don't mention the size, but many of these I've seen are small and have the same crackled appearance as yours. This often indicates the piece is a fairly contemporary work, either of legal mammoth ivory or heat-treated to resemble it, while giving the piece a faux appearance of age. Here's a photo of an unmarked one I acquired in Southeast Asia in the early 1970's for comparison. I figure it probably was made about the same time.
Best regards,
Bill H.
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( China & Japan ) - David - Jan 02, 2015 (12:33 PM) 
