Masakazu wood netsuke

19th century

monkey and tortoise

1 3/4 in., 4.3 cm

the curious monkey is perched on top of the tortoise's shell, peering timidly over the edge, his right finger pointing as if to poke dangerously close to the tortoise's mouth, the eyes double inlaid in dark and light horn, the dark wood bearing a deep patina, signed in an oval reserve, signed Masakazu

Published:
Expressions of Style: Netsuke as Art, Scholten Japanese Art, New York, August 2001, no. 160