A boxwood netsuke of a wildcat


By Jack Coutu (1924-2017), English, carved in January 1995Standing, its head turned to the right, its feet together and its tail passing over the right flank to form the himotoshi, the wood lightly stained and the eyes inlaid with dark horn and tortoiseshell; signed on a silver tablet JC. 5.6cm (2¼in) high. (2).
|Sold together with Jack Coutu's reference card (no.178), on which he states: 'A nice carving. It owes something to Otoman but is more like a photograph I found. It is large by Japanese standards perhaps but feels right for me. The composition is satisfying from any position and it has a unity of form which I don't always achieve. The position of the head works particularly well. The ears are perhaps a little flat but this gives a compactness which I feel to be desirable.'