A fine wood netsuke of a rat By Masanao, Kyoto, late 18th century
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A fine wood netsuke of a rat
By Masanao, Kyoto, late 18th century
Seated, its body twisted to the right and scratching its ear with one hind paw, while gripping its tail around its body with the other paws, forming a compact composition in slightly-worn and well-patinated wood, the eyes inlaid, signed in an oval reserve Masanao.
4.2cm (1⅝in).
Sold for £22,500 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • 木彫根付　鼠　銘「正直」　18世紀後期

    The rat was evidently one of the favourite subjects of Masanao and several examples have been recorded, exhibiting various movements or none at all. Three others are known in which the creature is shown scratching its ear, but all in ivory. See for instance Joe Earle, Netsuke, Fantasy and Reality in Japanese Miniature Sculpture, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 2001, p.276, no.240. The attitude shown here, in which the rat is bending the ear forward as it scratches, is apparently the only one recorded.

Category: Asian Art / Japanese Art

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