Unsigned kagamibuta-style netsuke
Circa 1860
A kagamibuta-style netsuke, the wood plate carved with a detailed scene of a tiger crouching beneath snow-capped bamboo. The fearsome creature’s head dips from its exageratedly hunched shoulders and the sinuous sweep of its back is echoed by its tail that snakes up above its back. Its leaf-shaped ears jut out sideways and the stripes of its coat are carved in flourishing detail. The background is finely worked in ukibori, set within a turned wood bowl, set with a stag antler himotoshi peg.
This distinctive representation of a tiger calls to mind the designs of Mori Genkosai.
