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An Immortal: O.90-1991

An image of Netsuke
View image details Mirador icon - view image Mirador deep zoom IIIF Manifest IIIF Manifest Slow looking

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Alternative views

An image of Netsuke
Awaiting location update

Titles

An Immortal

Maker(s)

Maker: Tomotada (Uncertain)
Maker: Yucho (Uncertain)

Entities

Categories

Description

Netsuke: katabori: An Immortal. Amber or tortoiseshell, carved and possibly stained. Figure of an immortal holding in his right hand a bamboo shoot (?) to his mouth, with two prominent front teeth, wearing a leaf cloak and seated among incised foliage. Undulating and irregular base with traces of shells and fossil marks. Finely incised using the contours of the amber/tortoiseshell. Himotoshi at the back.

Notes

History note: H.S. Reitlinger (d.1950); the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by H.S. Reitlinger, 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991.

Measurements and weight

Height: 3.7 cm
Width: 5.9 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1950) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

Edo Period (1615-1868)
19th Century
Circa 1800 CE - 1868 CE

Note

Signed on base, translated as Tomotada or Yucho, meaning friendship and loyalty.

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration
Parts

Materials used in production

uncertain Tortoise shell
uncertain Amber (fossil resin)

Techniques used in production

Carving : Amber or tortoiseshell, carved, incised and possibly stained

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.90-1991
Primary reference Number: 22454
Old object number: JAPWA/756

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 29 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "An Immortal" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/22454 Accessed: 2025-12-05 14:50:43

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/22454 |title=An Immortal |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 14:50:43|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-22454

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

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<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa37/large_O_90_1991_201309_mfj22_dc2.jpg"
        alt="An Immortal"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">An Immortal</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

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