Signature: unsigned, Circa: Meiji, 1868-1911
H 4 in.(10cm), W 8 in.(20cm), D 5.5 in.(14cm)
Condition: overall very good!
Bizen
ware is the oldest and most revered form of pottery in Japan. Now widely admired
for its exquisite simplicity in design, the beauty of its unglazed variant burgundy
red to brown hue, and the clay’s iron-like hardness from prolonged high temperature
firing.
This
recumbent boar with glass-eyes inlays is an exceptional Bizen-yaki specimen. Of
its superb artistry, the design of the boar was originally conceived by the 18th
century master Kano Tomokazu, the most celebrated animal netsuke carver. As shown
in this model, a finely sculpted wild boar perching on its belly, its imposing
snout raised in vigilant, whose ovaliform linear flow is deferred by the body
weight that shifts tenuously to the right, and enlivened with finely incised curvy
hair lines striation, with random dark patches in its rear from the firing process.
The Wild Boar is in a somber earth tone, mounted on a complimentary aged burl
wood base. There is a tiny chip near its left eye socket, and a thin crack lines
on its front leg; overall it is in very good condition.