A large boar-tusk netsuke


By Jack Coutu (1924-2017), English, carved in October 1982Carved in low relief with a powerful design of a hunting badger stalking a fleeing bird, on a partially stippled ground, the one visible eye with an inlaid dark horn pupil, the broad end plugged with ebony and embellished with a silver moon; signed on a silver tablet JC. 16.6cm (6½in) long. (2).
|PublishedThe International Netsuke Society Journal, vol.15, no.4, p.42.Sold together with Jack Coutu's reference card (no.96), on which he states: 'A good strong carving which could be said to have a slight coarseness of texture, particularly when enlarged (When does strength become coarseness?). I am a little apprehensive as to what may happen to the moon if the tone wears off the silver.'