Project Description
Stained Wood Netsuke of a Rat and Shogi Piece by Ikkan
The male rodent lies with one front paw grasping the edge of the game piece and the other raised. One hind paw grips its tail. Ils eyes are inlaid in horn. The hairs are lightly incised all over, their lines lightly worn in places. The piece is inscribed keima [knight]
Compare with two similar netsuke in Harris, The Hull Grundy Collection in the British Museum, p 47, n° 149, and Atchley and Davey, The Virginia Atchley Collection, p. 29, n° N6
Signed. Nagoya. Circa 1850
Length: 4.3 cm
With its oblique reference to a horse, the shogi piece neatly makes the netsuke into a joint representation of two Zodiac animals
Literature:
Illustrated in Sydney L. Moss, More things in Heaven and Earth, 2006, n° 56
Provenance:
Sydney L. Moss, 2005, purchased by the present owner
MR3968
