Antique
Ivory netsuke in the form of a chick loose-carved inside a broken egg. Signed
and seal marked: Mitushiro, one of the most important netsuke masters of 19th
century, whose work has been included in virtually every major collection worldwide.
This popular subject by Mitsuhiro has no doubt been copied prodigiously. The repetition
of the name in a cartouche is not characteristic of Mitsuhiro; nevertheless, the
meticulously formal signature does attribute the subject to its originator. It
was a common practice for netsukeshi to finish a work with the signature of the
master who invented the design.
The
egg is carved from creamy ivory with a cool undertone, nicely marked with striations
and cross-hatching, with engraved cracks and fine lines of the chick’s feathers,
its eyes of inlaid black coral. The wobbly chick has pecked a large hole in the
egg, from which it peeps out at the world.
