Until 31st Dec, 2025
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SANGETSU: A RARE EBONY WOOD NETSUKE OF A WASP IN A PEAR
Lot 183 - NE0525
By Sangetsu, signed Sangetsu 山月
Japan, Nagoya, mid-19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
Naturalistically carved, the rotting fruit speckled with very fine ukibori pimples and detailed with a wasp with dark-horn inlaid eyes picking at the pear’s flesh inside a large, rotted section. The minutely carved legs and wings of the wasp are realistically rendered, its curved feelers touching the fruit as it eats. The well-carved stem remains intact. Asymmetrical ringed himotoshi to the backside and signed on an oval raised reserve SANGETSU.
HEIGHT 4.9 cm
Condition: Good condition with some minor wear, a few light scratches and very fine age cracks.
Provenance: Bonhams, Tradition Travel Transition, 4 November 2021, lot 4. A private collection, acquired from the above.
While this subject has been treated numerously by various members of the Nagoya school including Sangetsu, Kogetsu and Gekko, this appears to the only known netsuke of this type carved from ebony.
Literature comparison:
For a related wood netsuke of a wasp in a pear, by Sangetsu, see Bandini, Rosemary (2001), also published in Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, p. 691.
Auction comparison:
Compare a cloesely related wood netsuke depicting the same subject, from the same school, signed Kogetsu, at Zacke, Fine Netsuke & Sagemono, 8 November 2024, Vienna, lot 175 (sold for EUR 4,680).
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