The Amusing Style Selections from the Collection of Pavel Zoubok and Paul A. Baglio Jr. 
24 July 2019
The Amusing Style Selections from the Collection of Pavel Zoubok and Paul A. Baglio Jr. 
141

Japanese

Monumental Iki-ningyō figure

Late 19th Century
hand-painted plaster over wood, carved fruitwood, steel, glass 20½ h × 10 w × 15¾ d in (52 × 25 × 40 cm)
estimate: $10,000–15,000
result: $10,400
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provenance: Private Collection

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Every once in a while I come across an object that I know little or nothing about but just have to have. This was one of those moments. That this painted figure, carved from wood, could look and “move” like living flesh blew my mind! The painstaking workmanship (which we are both drawn to), the fact that it had survived over a century intact, the “realism” of this totally unreal tableaux—obsessed me. I couldn't stop looking at it. It was one of those lessons in trusting your eye. I just knew that it would prove to be a rare and exceptional example...and I turned out to be right.

Pavel Zoubok

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