Bazan - nashi pear netsuke
Nagoya, circa 1850
A decaying nashi pear, a tiny maggot gorging itself on the juicy flesh. The skin around the opening is stained darker, this deeper colour echoed in a small bruise to one side and the himotoshi openings. The carver has employed various techniques: the fruit is stippled, while the core is rendered in ittobori and the skin is spotted in ukibori. In common with Bazan’s work, the core carries shunga connotations. The skin is only very lightly polished, the dullish surface lending a realistic feeling to the piece.
