A wood netsuke of a beetle


Style of Masanao of Yamada, Ise Province, 19th centuryUnsigned. 3.8cm (1½in) wide.
|木彫根付　甲虫　無銘　19世紀Published: Katchen, N7, vol.2, p.395, no.K588.Clambering over a large curled leaf, a slender stalk beneath forming the himotoshi, the wood slightly worn and with a good patina.A somewhat similar netsuke of a cicada on a leaf, signed Masanao, is illustrated in Harris, HGBM, p.91, no.444. Th work also shows affinities with that of Harumitsu of Ise, working in the latter part of the 19th century.