A classic composition, carved with the precision and expressiveness typical of this consummate artist. The eye’s of both man and rat are inlaid in buffalo horn
Signed: Masaka to. Circa 1880
Length: 5.7 cm
Information:
Masaka is one of the greatest carvers of okimono and netsuke of the late Meiji period. In netsuke, the only animals he carved were rats.
For a good idea of the quality of his skill, see the excellent article by Bernard Hurtig in the ‘JINCS’, 12/2, pp. 28-39. On p. 29 he illustrates an apparently more stained okimono of the rat catcher from 3 different angles