Page 71 - Fine Japanese Art September 25, 2020 Galerie Zacke Netsuke and Sagemono

compare the manner of the veining of the taro leaf

128| SEIYODO TOMIhARU: A RARE WOOD
NETSUKE OF A SNAIL ON A TARO LEAF
By Seiyodo Tomiharu (1733-1810), signed Nihon...Seiyodo Tomiharu
kore o chokoku, Tenmei ni no toki ni, mizunoe tora toshi... 日本...青
陽堂富春彫刻之 干時天明二壬寅年...
Japan, Iwami province, dated 1782 (Tenmei 2), Edo period (
1615-1868)

Carved from finely stained boxwood and depicting a snail slithering
across a folded taro leaf. The composition is full of movement,
achieved by the many curls of the stem and leaf, and the foot of
the snail, as well as its spiraling shell. The foot of the mollusc is
treated with fine ukibori pimples and the veiny structure of the leaf
is achieved naturalistically. To top it all off, the entire surface of the
leaf is treated with extremely fine ukibori, appearing like waves and
simulating the natural surface of the taro leaf – this can only be
fully enjoyed when viewed under a magnifying glass or microscope
– the sheer skill needed to pull this off is remarkable! One large
himotoshi through the underside, the other ‘natural’ through the
leaf. Signed in partially worn ukibori characters Nihon...Seiyodo
Tomiharu kore o chokoku, Tenmei ni no toki ni, mizunoe tora toshi...
[Seiyodo Tomiharu carved this, in the 2nd year of the Tenmei era,
the year of Mizunoe-tora (1782)].
LENGTH 7 cm
Condition: Very good condition – minor professional and invisible
touch-ups to the edges of the leaf.
Provenance: European collection.

AUCTION COMpARISON
A similar netsuke by Seiyodo
Tomiharu was sold at Bonhams,
The robert S. Huthart Collection
of Iwami Netsuke Part I,
15 May 2019, London, lot 31
(sold for 16.937 GBp).

Estimate EUR 15.000,-
Starting price EUr 7.500,-

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