A wood netsuke of a wild dog (yama-inu)


By Tomotada, Kyoto, Edo period (1615-1868), late 18th/early 19th centurySigned in a rectangular reserve Tomotada. 4.2cm (1 5/8in) wide.
|木彫根付　山犬　銘「友忠」　18世紀後期/19世紀後期Provenance: Purchased at Hauswedell and Nolte, Hamburg, 1966.Julius and Arlette Katchen collection.Published: Katchen, N7, vol.1, p.79. no.K468.Seated, leaning forward and licking its raised left leg, the wood slightly worn and the eyes inlaid in ivory with dark pupils.Tomotada appears to have made a large number of netsuke depicting wild dogs or wolves, generally depicting the creature with a captured crab or the haunch of a deer, although studies of the animal without either are rare. A similar example is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Netsuke, Edo Saimitsu Kogei no Hana (Netsuke: Flower of Miniature Crafts in Edo), Nihon Netsuke Kenkyukai, Tokyo, 1995, p.55, no.32.