All at sea

I like to think of this little ornament as a monkey sitting in a hand shaped boat and the stick that he’s holding is an oar, because he is sailing at sea.

In reality I think this hand represents the hand of the Buddha. I believe that the monkey is some sort of Chinese or Japanese deity (Monkey King) called Sun Wuking or Songaku. In a Chinese novel called ‘Journey to the West’, this monkey character was seen as having magical powers.

At first I thought this might be a Netsuke, But apparently you can’t be a Netsuke unless you’ve got cord holes running through, so it can be attached to clothing or a belt or bag??? You learn something new every day!

Apparently this is Okimino or an ornament. I’ve had it for years but only now I’ve had some time to properly research what it may be (or be pretending to be!) Regardless, it’s a cutie!