An ebony netsuke of a cicada on woodBy Sasaki Tomiaki (born 1746), Iwami Province, dated 1793The insect resting with wings folded on a piece of fallen wood, poised as if about to take flight, the veining of its wings carved in low relief, signed Kaishundo Sa Tomiaki kore o chokoku toki ni Kansei go mizunoto-ushi gogatsu mikka nari (carved by Sa[saki] Kaishundo Tomiaki on the third day of the fifth month of the fifth, mizunoto-ushi, year of Kansei [1793]), with two unread seals. 6.3cm (2½in).注脚黒檀彫根付　流木に蝉　銘 「回春堂佐富明彫刻之于時寛政五癸丑五月三日也」　1793年Provenance:Joseph and Edie Kurstin Collection.Published:Okada and Neill, RIB, p.55, no.35.Lazarnick, NIA, p.1112.Rokusho 20, p.63, no.87.Earle, Huthart, p.98, no.80.