ËœLIGHTLY STAINED IVORY NETSUKE OF THE LUCKY GOD HOTEI IN HIS SACK, CIRCA 1870 looking upwards with a doleful expression, his eyes inlaid with dark horn, signed: Kogyokusai 3.5cm high Provenance: The Netsuke Collection of Charles Ephrussi (1849-1905), acquired 1870s, Hotel Ephrussi, Rue de Monceau, Paris; a wedding gift in 1898 to his cousin Ritter Viktor von Ephrussi (1860-1945) and Baroness Emilie (Emmy) Schey von Koromla (1879-1938), Palais Ephrussi, Ringstrasse, Vienna; retrieved post-war from their hiding place by their daughter Elizabeth de Waal (1899-1991); given by her to her brother Ignaz (Iggie) Ephrussi (1906-1994), Tokyo; bequeathed by him to his great-nephew Edmund de Waal (born 1964), London, the collection featured in his memoir 'The Hare With Amber Eyes'. Auction proceeds to be donated to The Refugee Council.