By Shunsai, signed ShunsaiJapan, late 19th century, Meiji period (1868-1912)Very finely carved as a carpenter balancing on a log, supported by another log on the underside, and cutting through the wood with a saw. The texture of the wood is achieved naturalistically, the saw is inlaid in tortoiseshell, and the man wears a sagemono set tied to his obi, inlaid in coral and mother-of-pearl. The underside with a singular himotoshi ringed in ivory and the signature SHUNSAI within a rectangular ivory inlaid cartouche.HEIGHT 3.5 cm, LENGTH 3.4 cmCondition: Excellent condition.Provenance: European collection.Literature comparison:A very similar netsuke is shown in Lazarnick, George (1982) Netsuke & Inro Artists, and How to Read Their Signatures, Vol. 2, p. 1000.