MASAYUKI: A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF A BOYBy Hoshunsai Masayuki, signed Masayuki 正之 with kakihanJapan, Edo (Tokyo), c. 1860Finely carved, the young boy wearing a ruffled collar, his head tilted upwards with a joyous expression and clasping his feet tightly together in a shunga-like gesture. The underside of the netsuke reveals a beautifully carved stylized lucky sparrow (fukura suzume) with neatly incised hanabishi décor. Large, asymmetrical himotoshi underneath and signed within a raised, double-gourd shaped reserve MASAYUKI and kakihan.HEIGHT 3 cm, LENGTH 3.2 cmCondition: Excellent condition, very minor wear.Literature comparison:A near-identical or perhaps this exact netsuke is illustrated in Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, Part A, p. 493.A remarkably fine and clever study by Hoshunsai Masayuki who is celebrated for his stag antler carvings and somewhat undeservedly has received little acclaim for his wood netsuke which belongs to his suspected early production when working in the Edo style.