92 - SHOMINSAI TOMOTADA: A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF A BOAR RESTING ON AUTUMN LEAVES

SHOMINSAI TOMOTADA: A FINE WOOD NETSUKE OF A BOAR RESTING ON AUTUMN LEAVES By Shominsai Tomotada, signed Tomotada 友忠 Japan, early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Finely carved as a recumbent boar resting with its short legs drawn tightly beneath its compact, rounded body, the elongated snout lowered and the narrow eyes lending the animal a placid expression. The dense coat is rendered with innumerable fine incisions following the contours of its powerful form, with the bristled ridge along the back and deeply hollowed ears particularly well observed. Most striking is the luxuriant bed of autumn plants beneath and around the animal: long grasses sweep dynamically across the flanks, while broad maple leaves rise in bold high relief, deeply undercut and crisply separated from the body, giving the composition remarkable depth and movement. Good himotoshi underneath, one natural and one pierced, and signed TOMOTADA within a rectangular reserve. LENGTH 5.2 cm Provenance: Sotheby’s, Fine Japanese Netsuke, Inro, Lacquer Wares and Ceramics, 1 June 1981, London, lot 150. Condition: Very good condition with minor expected wear and tiny losses to the edges of the leaves. Shominsai Tomotada was a rare carver active in the early 19th century, whose identity and lineage remain somewhat confused in the literature. Reikichi appears to have identified him with Shominsai Chikamasa, recording him as the son of Kanjuro and a pupil of Hiraga Gennai. Jonas, by contrast, describes Tomotada as “a well-known specialist in netsuke of the early 19th century” and records him as the founder of a school from which Chikuyosai Tomochika emerged. The present composition is closely related to the painterly theme of Akikusa ni fusuru inoshishi (‘A Wild Boar Lying Amidst Autumn Plants’), published in 1720 in an instructional picture book by Tachibana Morikuni. The correspondence is particularly apparent in the sweeping grasses and prominently projecting leaves enveloping the animal. Rather than treating the foliage as a secondary surface ornament, Shominsai Tomotada translates Morikuni’s design into a boldly sculptural arrangement of high-relief, deeply undercut leaves, setting the carving apart from more conventional early Kyoto treatments of the subject. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related wood netsuke of a boar by the same artist, signed Tomotada, formerly in the Hull Grundy Collection, illustrated in Sotheby’s, A Very Fine Selection of Netsuke, 6 May 1975, London, lot 7.