JOSUI: A LARGE BAMBOO SASHI NETSUKE IN THE SHAPE OF A MANTISBy Josui, signed Josui 如水Japan, Nara, dated 1872The sashi netsuke cut from a large section of bamboo and shaped as a stylized mantis, the wings incised with large characters. Two large himotoshi in the center.Signed and inscribed: 寿山, 壬申夏日製、於竹影居、如水漁人 “Juzan, mizunoe-saru, natsu no hi sei, Chikueikyo nite, Josui gyojin” [Felicitous Mountain (in large characters on the closed wings of the mantis), made on a day in summer, in the year of mizunoe-saru (1872), at the Chikueikyo (Studio in the shade of bamboos), by Josui gyojin]With a seal：竹宮 “Takemiya” [Bamboo Palace].There is no information on the artist, however he must have been related to Gyokkin (1816-1880) or Morikawa Toen (1820-1894), who carved very similar pieces and were both active in Nara. Their netsuke are exceedingly rare. For a discussion of Gyokkin including similar pieces (figs. 21-24) see the International Netsuke Society Journal (INSJ), vol.24, no. 2, pp. 12-26.HEIGHT 26.5 cmCondition: Excellent condition.Provenance: From an important East German private collection, assembled between the 1970s and 1980s.