Project Description
Wood Netsuke of a Resting Boar by Hokudo Itsumin (Active 1830-70)
Three of its legs folded beneath it and the ears held back flat against its head. The hairwork is finely incised and the expressive eyes are double-inlaid in pale and dark horn
Signed in an oval reserve. Tokyo, circa 1850
Length: 4.7 cm
Provenance:
D. Llewellyn Thomas collection. Now being sold by a Belgian collector
D. Llewellyn Thomas collection. Now being sold by a Belgian collector
Information:
Meinertzhagen observes that it is likely that Itsumin spent his early years as a carver in Nagoya, possibly as a pupil of Ittan. This present work and its affinity to Nagoya school netsuke certainly seems to support this theory. An inferior boar netsuke in a similar pose, signed Itsuo, was offered by Sotheby’s, 17th May 2007, lot 831, where the cataloguer suggests it might be the work of Itsumin, but comparison of the quality of the two pieces would indicate otherwise. Fuld records only one netsuke of this subject by Itsumin.
MR3369
Search by Tags: ANIMALS
