KAZUO MIZUTANI: AN INLAID WOOD NETSUKE OF A TABAKO-IRE DEPICTING HYOTAN KARA KUMABy Kazuo Mizutani (b. 1932), signed Kazuo 一小Japan, 20th centuryThe tobacco pouch with a kanamono (clasp) in gold takazogan of a galloping horse, below a flat-inlaid bone gourd, the pouch holding a plain kiseruzutsu (pipe case) with the karikubi (bowl) of the kiseru (pipe) inlaid in stained bone. The back signed KAZUO.LENGTH 5.3 cmCondition: Excellent condition with minor wear. Provenance: Max Rutherston, London, 2017. Collection Prof. Dr. Henk C. Hoogsteden, Rotterdam, acquired from the above.The present netsuke alludes to the Japanese expression hyotan kara koma (lit. ‘a horse in the gourd’), referring to a completely unexpected event that actually comes to pass, akin to the flight of pigs in the English-speaking world.