A parody of the netsuke motif of the chicken hatching from the egg, only in this case it is a fierce dragon (tatsu). The most popular netsuke motif of this variant is the tengu hatching from the egg known as ‘tengu no tomago’, however in this case it is ‘tatsu no tamago’. The idea of mythical beings hatching from eggs make for a very amusing and rare subject in netsuke art. The egg has several holes, with cracks emerging from them, from which the dragon’s head, with unusually long barbels, peaks out and through which its scaly body coils. Two further openings show sharp claws, one of them used as himotoshi, while in the other the dragon holds a magic pearl (tama). Signed MASAKAZU and ICHISHIDO beside the himotoshi. Pupils inlaid in dark horn. A rare and celebrated artist from the early Meiji period.

Category:

-

Subcategory:

-

Subject:

Animal

Material:

Ivory

Age/Country:

19th Century

Artist:

Ichishido Masakazu

Provenance/Owner:

Galerie Zacke

Signed:

signed

Type:

Katabori

Height:

34mm mm

Width:

mm

Depth:

mm

ID number: