A very fine stained and inlaid miniature ivory Netsuke by Yoshida Homei, c.1880, in the form of a

A very fine stained and inlaid miniature ivory Netsuke by Yoshida Homei, c.1880, in the form of a girl seated writing a book, her green-stained tunic with silver stitched obi, more silver forming the himotoshi, various mon in copper, abalone and with the signature engraved Homei on a red lacquer reserve, 2.5cm The signature on this beautifully rendered and sympathetic figure is curiously ill-defined. There are two possibilities: one, the original has been lost and replaced by someone with little talent (unlikely), and two (very likely), that the netsuke is by the master hand of Ishikawa Komei, whose signature can - intentionally - be at variance from the quality of his carving. Komei, also known as Mitsuaki, Hyosai or Juzan, was born in 1852 and began by carving netsuke but, during the Meiji era, devoted himself mainly to okimono, often of large size and always of the highest quality, only making the occasional essay back to netsuke. He was a founder with Yoshida Homei of the Tokyo School.

CONDITION REPORT:
No obvious faults. 6.2grams Height 2.5cm