MASAKAZU: A RARE YAMADA SCHOOL WOOD NETSUKE OF TWO SNAILSBy Masakazu, signed Masakazu 正一Japan, Yamada, Ise Province, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)Well carved as two snails, the smaller crawling along the larger snail’s shell, both with slimy bodies naturalistically rendered with hatched incision work, the shells subtly incised and darkly stained, the larger snail’s foot forming the himotoshi, the underside of its shell incised with the signature within an oblong reserve MASAKAZU.LENGTH 3.7 cmCondition: The feelers are repaired. Otherwise good condition with minor wear and few tiny nicks here and there.Literature comparison: Compare a related netsuke of three snails by Masanao, illustrated in Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, Part A, p. 458.