(SOLD) A wood group of a Monkey and young, the former picking fleas from the fur of the youngster who is frolicking around, not making the grooming process any easier for its mother who is going cross-eyed in the process.
Signed: Suke 亮. In addition, the characters ヒタ denoting the area Hida, Takayama.
To my understanding, the only two artists that added the area of Hida to their works were Sukenaga and Sukenao. We would favour the latter as the likely maker.
This interesting study demonstrates an easily missed scarcity. Wild monkeys and young, often macaque are frequently encountered in netsuke-art. However, jacketed, ie trained monkeys with a young are that bit scarcer. Perhaps due to my romantic mindset, but I believe the artist was intending a message here. The trained monkey of a performer (Sarumawashi) were often mistreated, certainly by our modern standards of animal welfare. This tender scene conveys those maternal moments, that likely in a short space of time will end for the little one, his frolicking days will be behind him and he will join the ranks as a cadette in training for his life as a performing monkey. However, in this moment he is oblivious to this inevitable future.
3.1cm High
