SOSHI: A FINE JOSO SCHOOL WOOD MASK NETSUKE OF A GROUP OF MASKSBy Soshi, signed Soshi 藻之 to 刀Japan, Tokyo, late 19th to early 20th centuryPublished: Bushell, Raymond (1985), Netsuke Masks, pls. 272A and 272B.Finely carved as an Okame mask and an upside-down Okina mask side by side, both with smiling expressions and of typical appearance, the Okina bucktoothed, the Okame with neatly incised strands of hair, backed by an oni mask with bulging eyes and a prominent wide nose, the large flaring nostrils forming the ‘natural’ himotoshi, the chin signed SOSHI to [carved by Soshi].LENGTH 3.3 cmCondition: Excellent condition with only very minor wear.Provenance: Ex-collection Raymond Bushell. Sotheby’s New York, 21 March 2000, New York, lot 303. European private collection P. Jacquesson, acquired from the above.Soshi was a netsuke artist from the Joso school whose work is rarely seen. Most of his netsuke are masks, with his signature engraved on a himotoshi crossbar. The present netsuke, however, does not have a crossbar and is signed to the chin of the Oni mask. Literature comparison: Compare a related wood netsuke by Joso, depicting three masks representing Okame, Suguchi, and Akuso, 3.8 cm long, illustrated in Coullery, Marie-Therese / Newstead, Martin S. (1977) The Baur Collection, p. 260, C 763. Compare a closely related wood netsuke by Sokyu, also depicting masks of Okame, Okina, and Oni, and also with Oni’s nostrils forming the himotoshi and the signature found on his chin, illustrated in Galerie Zacke, Netsuke. Die Sammlung Frank Pingotti, 1998, no. 120. Auction comparison: Compare a related wood group of three masks, depicting masks of Okame and Oni backed by that of Buaku, by Morita Soko, 3.5 cm, dated late 19th to early 20th century, at Sotheby’s, The Swedlow Collection of Inro, Lacquer and Ojime, 31 March 1993, London, lot 83.