Ivory 29 x 77 x 31 mm.

The ningyo (man-fish) is represented with the torso of an elderly man. His hair falls to his shoulders, his right hand clasps his left wrist as if assisting it in gathering his beard in his left fist. The body terminates in a large tripartite fish tail. The prominent features of this unusually large ningyo are deeply incised, their recessed parts further enhanced by the application of black stain creating a strong three dimensional effect.

The image of the merman harks back to illustrations in the encyclopaedias that followed on the Shanhaijing, the Sankai tuhui and the Wakan sansai zue, and is labelled Teijin, and described as a man with a fish body and no legs.