A ceramic netsuke of an octopus


By Teiji, 19th centurySigned Teiji. 4.5cm (1¾in) high.
|陶磁器根付　蛸　銘「貞二」　19世紀Provenance: Douglas J. K. Wright Ltd., London, 1963.Published: Katchen, N7, vol.2, p.47, no.K569.The large-headed creature attempting to break out of a small takotsubo (octopus pot), two tentacles having broken through to one side, the head glazed white and the pot with a dry brown glaze.For other examples of the subject by Teiji, see Arakawa, GO, p.135, no.265, Laura Muller, Adornment in Clay, Ceramic Netsuke from the Richard R. Silverman Collection, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, 2010, p.45, no.36 and INSJ, vol.18, no.1, p.36, fig.1 and p.41, fig.6.