A NEGORO LACQUER NETSUKE OF A MANDARIN DUCK Unsigned Japan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Finely carved as a stylized Mandarin duck (oshidori) resting on water and facing ahead, its entire body lacquered black and red in the Negoro style. The underside with two himotoshi. LENGTH 4.5 cm Condition: Very good condition with some wear to lacquer and few light scratches. Provenance: Ex-collection Richard R. Silverman, purchased 1977 from Ito in Tokyo. Richard R. Silverman (1932-2019) was a renowned Asian art collector with one of the largest private collections of netsuke outside of Japan. He lived in Tokyo between 1964 and 1979 and began to collect netsuke there in 1968. Since the 1970s, he wrote and lectured about netsuke and was an Asian art consultant for Christie's, Sotheby's, and Bonhams. His gift of 226 ceramic netsuke to the Toledo Museum of Art constitutes perhaps the largest public collection of these miniature clay sculptures in the world. After moving to California, Silverman became a member of the Far Eastern Art Council at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1984. In 1993, he joined LACMA's Executive Board. He served on the board of directors for the International Society of Appraisers from 1986 to 1994 and served nine years as chair for the City of West Hollywood Fine Arts Commission. Richard Silverman was posthumously awarded the Order of the Rising Sun for his decades-long promotion of Japanese culture. Literature comparison: Compare a related netsuke of a Mandarin duck illustrated in Bushell, Raymond (1975) Netsuke Familiar & Unfamiliar, New York/Tokyo, p. 163, no. 408. Other similar negoro lacquer netsuke of birds are illustrated in the same book, pp. 162-163. Auction comparison: Compare a related netsuke of a Mandarin duck, described as a gull, at Bonhams, The Julius and Arlette Katchen Collection of Fine Netsuke Part II, 10 May 2017, London, lot 161 (sold for 1,125 GBP).