netsuké carved from a wild boar's tooth

A sign of quality, this netsuké carved from a wild boar's tooth has no attachment holes to pass the cord through, the imotoshi (the attachment) is here naturally formed by the base of the tail. The protruding eyes are inlaid , they are cut from a black material, certainly horn. The sculpture, the proportions, the realism, the details, everything is perfect. The dormouse seems alive. He is surprised during his meal, the animal sits up, worried and scans the surroundings. His nibbled meal, a squash or an eggplant, remains tight between his paws. There is no signature but this is the work of excellent artiste from the beginning of the 19th century. We can distinguish with a magnifying glass a series of tiny tenons which fill the slots, these are not late restorations because the coat is perfectly drawn on them. The tooth must have retracted and split slightly as it dried during sculpting. The artist simply filled in these gaps.
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