By Tadatomo, signed Tadatomo 忠友to 刀
Japan, Kyoto, early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)

A coiled snake crushing a poor defenseless toad, both with dark inlaid eyes. The warty skin of toad is skilfully executed and the snake’s scales are rendered with a cross-hatched pattern. Many possibilities for ‘natural’ himotoshi due to the openwork nature of the netsuke. The underside with the signature TADATOMO to (carved) within a rectangular tablet.

WIDTH 3.1 cm

Condition: Excellent condition with minor surface wear.
Provenance: Spanish private collection.

The netsuke depicts the sansukumi motif, meaning ‘mutual control’. The snake will consume the frog, however there is a catch – the frog has already eaten a poisonous snail, so the snake must perish as well.

Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related netsuke by the same carver at Zacke, Fine Netsuke, Sagemono & Okimono, 27 April 2019, Vienna, lot 92 (sold for 4,514 EUR).

This item contains or is made from elephant ivory and is subject to CITES when exporting outside the EU. It is typically not possible to export such items outside of the EU, including to the UK. Please note that in compliance with EU regulation effective January 19th, 2022, all items carved from elephant ivory before 1947 must carry a legal trade permit issued by the Austrian ministry of trade, or any other appropriate authority within the European Union. For this reason, any sale of such item can only be concluded after such permit has been granted. All payments made prior to the issuance of the respective permit will be held in escrow until the application for the permit has been approved. Please note that according to EU regulation it may take up to 3 months until the permit has been granted. In case the permit is declined, or not granted after 3 months, the payment will be returned to the client immediately.