230 - SHUGETSU IV: A SUPERB EBONY WOOD NETSUKE OF A RECUMBENT BLACK BULL

SHUGETSU IV: A SUPERB EBONY WOOD NETSUKE OF A RECUMBENT BLACK BULL By Shugetsu IV (Shizan), signed Shugetsu 舟月 saku 作 Japan, Tokyo, c. 1870s-1880s, early Meiji period (1868-1912) Published: Douglas J. K. Wright (1976) Netsuke Panorama, no. 107. Superbly carved as a powerful recumbent black bull resting with all four legs drawn tightly beneath its massive body, the head lowered and turned gently to one side, and the long tail sweeping forward across the right hind leg. The compact, weighty form is modeled with remarkable naturalism, with a pronounced shoulder hump, heavy folded dewlap, broad chest, and rounded haunches, the entire surface covered with meticulously incised hairwork following the contours of the musculature. Particularly distinctive is the boldly modeled face, with its broad projecting nose and deeply flaring nostrils, short curved horns, and alert eyes double-inlaid in horn. The dense ebony is finely polished, its deep black surface lending the animal an imposing sculptural presence and emphasizing the crispness of the carving. Asymmetrical himotoshi underneath, the larger lined in bone and the smaller in green-stained bone, and signed SHUGETSU saku [made by Shugetsu]. LENGTH 4.8 cm Provenance: The Dorothy Ann Stevens Collection of Fine Netsuke and Inro, formed between the 1940s and 1960s. Purchased by Henry Potter Stevens in 1966. A copy of the corresponding entry in the collector’s register, recording the present lot as no. 435, accompanies the lot. Dorothy Ann Stevens was a collector of Japanese art active during the mid-twentieth century. The wife of the chemist, artist, and collector Henry Potter Stevens (1875–1965), she formed an extensive collection of netsuke, inro, and smoking accessories, with netsuke representing a particular focus of her collecting. Carefully documented and scholarly studied, the collection was maintained independently, with individual inventory numbers assigned to all her acquisitions. Many of these were purchased on the London art market during the 1940s and 1950s and included works with distinguished earlier provenances. Dorothy and Henry maintained closely related but distinct collections and occasionally exchanged objects between them, Henry's interests being particularly associated with inro and hers with netsuke. Preserved within the Stevens family for more than half a century, her collection constitutes a significant and well-documented record of the collecting and study of Japanese miniature arts in the mid-twentieth century. Condition: Excellent condition. Shugetsu IV, also known as Shizan, belonged to the celebrated Hara family of Edo netsuke carvers and was the son and pupil of Shugetsu III. Meinertzhagen records him as a Tokyo-school artist active during the Meiji period and illustrates a particularly illuminating comparison: a recumbent horse carved in black wood, described as ebony or stained wood, signed Shugetsu Shizan. The horse shares several highly distinctive features with the present bull, most notably the unusual choice of dense black wood, the broad and prominently projecting nose with deeply cut nostrils, and the closely related treatment of the inlaid eyes. These correspondences, together with the present signature, strongly support an attribution of this netsuke to Shugetsu IV, Shizan. The choice of ebony is particularly effective in the present work. Its density allows the compact body to be modeled with exceptional precision, while its naturally deep tone gives the diminutive carving an almost monumental presence. The finely incised coat softens the broad masses of the shoulders and haunches, while the lowered head and tightly folded legs impart an extraordinary sense of contained strength. The result is a superbly balanced animal study in which physical power is tempered by remarkably sensitive observation. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related black-wood netsuke of a recumbent horse by Shugetsu IV, signed Shugetsu Shizan, dated early Meiji period, illustrated in Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, Part B, p. 767. The horse is particularly noteworthy for its closely related dark material, broad projecting nose, deeply formed nostrils, and inlaid eyes.