By Kokusai, signed Koku, stag antler netsuke
Japan, Asakusa, mid to late 19th century

The snail is crawling up a reishi mushroom, a symbol for longevity, and is stretching out its feelers scanning the surface of the mushroom, the tip of the antennae inlaid in dark horn. The spirals of the shell and the surface of the reishi are carved very well. The underside with the stem of the reishi, which form the himotoshi and houses the signature carved in sunken relief reading KOKU, for Ozaki Kokusai (1835 – 1892), the founder of the famous Asakusa school in Tokyo, which was the center for stag antler carving in Japan during that time, and produced, in their own right, some of the greatest masterpieces of netsuke art from difficult and rare materials.

Category:

Netsuke

Subcategory:

-

Subject:

Animal

Material:

Antler

Age/Country:

19th Century

Artist:

Kokusai

Provenance/Owner:

Galerie Zacke

Signed:

signed

Type:

Katabori

Height:

20mm mm

Width:

40mm mm

Depth:

mm

ID number: