Project Description
Wood Netsuke of a Masseur Lifting a Stone
One eye closed and his mouth puckering as he strains to raise the heavy weight to exercise his arm muscles. The himotoshi are carved into his buttocks
Signed: tenkaichi taku/toku . Circa 1850
Height: 2.7 cm
The identification of this talented carver is problematic. The character Taku is most commonly used by Tachikawa/Tatekawa Takusai, but he uses darker woods than this, normally signs with both characters of his name, and does not style himself tenkaichi, as far as I know, though I would be pleased to be corrected
Item Location: USA
