120 - TOMIAKI: A MASTERFUL LARGE IWAMI SCHOOL EBONY WOOD NETSUKE OF A DORMOUSE ON AN OAK BRANCH

TOMIAKI: A MASTERFUL LARGE IWAMI SCHOOL EBONY WOOD NETSUKE OF A DORMOUSE ON AN OAK BRANCH By Sasaki Tomiaki (born 1746), signed Sasaki Tomiaki 佐々木 富明 Japan, Iwami province, late 18 th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Exquisitely carved from dense, lustrous ebony, depicting a dormouse crouching alertly upon a gnarled oak branch, its head raised inquisitively and its delicate paws gripping the uneven surface. The animal’s soft coat is rendered with countless minute, flowing incisions following the rounded contours of its body, contrasting beautifully with the smoothly polished acorns clustered behind it. The branch is enveloped by overlapping, deeply veined oak leaves with subtly curled and irregular margins, while the acorn cups are worked with a minute crosshatched texture. The carving rewards the closest inspection, the surface enriched throughout with extraordinarily fine ukibori work, continually revealing new details as the netsuke is turned in the hand. The underside with a generously excavated asymmetrical himotoshi, the cut end of the branch signed SASAKI TOMIAKI in fine ukibori characters within a rectangular reserve. LENGTH 7.1 cm Provenance: Ex-collection Frank Lapisch. Frank Lapisch (1934-2002) was a German entrepreneur and dedicated netsuke collector who first traveled to Japan in 1960 as a German judo champion. He later founded the Tokyo-based electronics firm Alltec in 1972 while deepening his engagement with Japanese art and craftsmanship. From the late 1970s onward, he pursued the study and acquisition of netsuke with increasing discernment, carefully documenting purchases made at auction houses such as Lempertz and Klefisch. He showed a particular preference for early ‘ur-netsuke,’ prized for their expressive carving and richly developed, glossy wear patina. Condition: Excellent condition. Sasaki Tomiaki (1746-after 1823) was a distinguished carver of the Iwami school and a pupil of its great master Seiyodo Tomiharu. Like his teacher, he worked principally in dense, dark woods and is particularly associated with minutely observed studies of spiders, cicadas, and other creatures, characterized by exceptionally intricate surface carving and an uncompromising naturalism. Rodents are exceptionally rare within Tomiaki’s known oeuvre, and in Iwami netsuke in general, making the present subject particularly noteworthy. The netsuke is further distinguished by its unusually substantial size. Tomiaki appears to have favored relatively large-scale compositions, as demonstrated by several recorded works, including the 6.3 cm dated cicada and a 6.1 cm ebony spider on driftwood from the celebrated Huthart collection; at 7.1 cm, the present netsuke is especially imposing. The exceptional esteem in which Iwami netsuke by Tomiaki were already held at the time of Lapisch’s acquisition is reflected in his own annotation: Iwami no Tomiaki ichiban takai netsuke osoraku saite go/rokujuman maku kara [Tomiaki of Iwami, perhaps the most expensive netsuke, from five or six thousand marks upwards]. The statement is a remarkable contemporary indication of the high value attached to Tomiaki’s work, and particularly to the present netsuke. Auction comparison: Compare a related kurogaki wood netsuke of a rat on an inkstick by the artist’s master Seiyodo Tomiharu, dated 1782, 5.6 cm long, at Bonhams, The Robert S. Huthart Collection of Iwami Netsuke, 15 May 2019, London, lot 32 (sold for GBP 12,562 or approx. EUR 19,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Compare also a related large ebony wood netsuke of a cicada on wood by the same artist, dated 1793, 6.3 cm long, at Bonhams, The Robert S. Huthart Collection of Iwami Netsuke, 15 May 2019, London, lot 44 (sold for GBP 10,687 or approx. EUR 16,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).