Lot 89
89
BOAR TUSK WITH YELLOW HORN SNAIL

Details
BOAR TUSK WITH YELLOW HORN SNAIL
Ivory boar tusk with horn, signed Konotoki Temmei gonen ryuju kinoto mi fuyu rogetsu jugo-nichi seiyodo kiyo Tomiharu kyonen gojusansai sekiyo iwami kawabe nitte chokokusu mononari "Carved by Seiyodo Kiyo Tomiharu in Temmei 5, (1785), winter, 12th month, 15th day, at the age of 53 at Sekiyo in Iwami [Province] Kawabe"; sealed Sei and Fushin
Seiyodo Tomiharu (Iwao I) (1733-1811)
3 5/16 in. (8.4 cm.) long

Lot Essay

An almost identical boar tust and yellow horn snail is illustrated in Raymond Bushell, Collectors' Netsuke, Weatherhill, New York, 1971, fig. 67, p. 62. It is signed Tomiaki, a prime student of Tomiharu, and dated 1787. It is also illustrated on the cover of The Journal of International Netsuke Collectors' Society, Vol. 2, no. 1. The dating of the two tusks is consistent for the student copied the master's model after a two year interval. The quality of the two designs is also equal. Currently the Tomiaki is on exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.