Carving a whole nut in relief is quite an artistic feat due to its difficulty. The top side shows a dense image of a running rabbit (usagi) with exaggeratedly long ears, surrounded by rocks and plants, underneath the crescent moon, surely an allusion to the legendary moon rabbit, or lunar hare. Also, the rabbit is running across densely carved sprays of waves, another allusion to the moon, as the moons reflection is visible in the water. The reverse with a finely carved brocade pattern and one silver-outlined and one heart-shaped himotoshi.

Category:

Netsuke

Subcategory:

-

Subject:

Animal

Material:

Nuts

Age/Country:

19th Century

Artist:

-

Provenance/Owner:

Galerie Zacke

Signed:

unsigned

Type:

Katabori

Height:

mm

Width:

37mm mm

Depth:

mm

ID number: