Project Description

Wood netsuke of a snail on a bucket. Circa 1870. By Gyokuryusai Tomoshige 

A masterpiece of delicate carving and staining.  The soft body of the snail is stippled, while the highly polished shell is stained from light to dark with a dappled surface

Signed on the side of the bucket: gyokuryusai tomoshige

Provenance: 

Julius and Arlette Katchen collection, Paris.

Sold at their sale (part I), Sotheby’s London, 8th November 2005, lot 115, where purchased by the present owner

Information: 

A relatively rare artist, whose favourite subject this seems to have been.  This is an unusually good variant of the composition, especially for the contrasts in the staining

Literature: 

A. Katchen, Netsuke 7, vol. 2, pp. 52-53, no. K631

MR1065