Japanese Signed Carved Okimono of Kneeling Male with Robe and Inlaid Flowers

He leans in, bald pate gleaming, as though his dropped coin is just below the table.

This signed carved okimono of a kneeling male with robe and inlaid flowers comes from Japan and dates to the Edo Period (1615 – 1868 CE). It is wood and bone. Okimono are small Japanese sculptures made purely for display, often showing everyday people with a gently comic eye. The kneeling man bends forward, hands raised, his topknot bound in white. His face and hands are carved in pale bone, while his robe is polished dark wood, glossy with heavy folds. Bone crests with flowers are inlaid at the shoulders and back. It is 9.75 inches high.

Whatever he is looking at, he has given it his full attention.