Doctor's Bokuto, Wooden Sword

"A Japanese Bokuto (literally 'wooden sword' - when, with the end of the civil rivalry between the Shogun and his enemies, carrying arms became obsolete in Japan, the wearing of small dummy swords by the Samurai was imitated by doctors, artists and other professionals as a symbol of social and professional status. During the 18th and 19th centuries the bokuto lost its sword-like appearance and size and took on a more abstract and decorative form. The production and wearing of this unusual form of art seems to have ended with the official abolition of sword wearing in 1876), in the form of a dried fish, with deeply undercut gills, the inlaid eyes having an orange tone, the body with long striated grooves showing the dried skin of this Japanese delicacy, 16" long, the boxwood carving dates late Edo period. Fish of all types are found in Japanese legend and art and are admired for their form and movement as well as for the auspicious associations that they have. Boxwood (Buxus michrophylia) is termed a "hardwood". (Hardwood comes from an angiospermous tree.)" - Bernie McManus, Appraiser, Woodbury House, Connecticut, 8/8/2001.