MIWA KATSUSUKE: A SUPERB WOOD NETSUKE OF GAMA SENNIN WITH HUGE TOADBy Miwa Katsusuke, signed Miwa Katsusuke 三輪勝助 with kakihanJapan, Edo (Tokyo), c. 1800, Edo period (1615-1868)Published: Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, Part A, p. 572 (not illustrated).International Netsuke Society Journal (2001) Vol. 21, No. 3, p. 28. (advert by Sydney Moss Ltd.)Sydney L. Moss Ltd. (2004) Outside the Box, p. 42, no. 18.A remarkably powerful netsuke carved from plum or isu wood, of an attractive grain and color, depicting a seated Gama Sennin wearing a thick mugwort leaf skirt spreading about him and leaning against the gigantic toad behind him, the expressions of both forcefully dyspeptic and disagreeable. The flattened base with large asymmetrical himotoshi and the signature MIWA KATSUSUKE, the last character of which is written to resemble a kakihan.LENGTH 4 cmCondition: Very good condition, appealingly worn, few tiny nicks, few light surface scratches.Provenance: Ex-collection W.W. Winkworth. Sotheby’s, 27 June 1979, London, lot 99. Ex-collection Raymond Bushell. Sydney L. Moss, London, 2004. French private collection, acquired from the above.The present netsuke was recorded by Frederick Meinertzhagen in his Card Index, wherein he noted, very interestingly, that it was shown to him on 27 June 1951 “by Winkworth who wrote this characteristic commentary:‘… a small seated Gama looking rather like a determined Rationalist standing up for Individualism and the ‘scientific approach’ in controversy with a bigoted Catholic; I and my toad don’t believe any nonsense about Transubstantiation! My toad says if you’d been a tadpole once you’d have more sense than to believe in Purgatory!’ (too profound for my understanding, F.M.)”Katsusuke, or Shojo, can be translated as ‘worthy follower’, and those enthusiasts who study the early masters have concluded that in the few work’s signed ‘Miwa’s worthy follower’ we very probably see a hand which may be categorized as a direct pupil of the master. Indeed, Meinertzhagen’s estimation of the carver seems to have been ratcheted up a notch between his June 1951 introductory card, explaining that only three works were known, which “show true artistic feeling, but lack originality of design, subtlety and fine craftsmanship”, and his handwritten note of May 1955, “Might this carver be Miwa 2nd, or even the first Miwa?”Literature comparison:Compare two related wood netsuke by Miwa Katsusuke, illustrated in Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, Part A, p. 572.