AN UNUSUAL WOOD NETSUKE OF A BLIND MONKEY FIGHTING ANOTHER MONKEY BY MASACHIKABy Masachika, wood netsukeJapan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)A very unusual and compact composition of a large blind male monkey holding a peach, one of the eyes inlaid in white material and the other in horn. A smaller male monkey, aware of the other monkey's disadvantage, is kneeling below him and trying to steal the peach he is holding. The expression of the larger monkey is brilliantly captured as he realizes the attempted robbery and grabs the other monkey by the fur at the back, the differently inlaid eyes give him a crazed look. The smaller monkey's eyes are inlaid in translucent horn and he has a mischievous expression. Very good treatment of the fur and the underside equally well carved with natural himotoshi and signature in a polished reserve MASACHIKA. The artist carved invariably monkeys and according to the scholar F. M. Jonas, Masachika was the adopted son and successor of Kaigyokusai Masatsugu and the father of Kaigyokudo Masateru.HEIGHT 3.8 CM, LENGTH 4.5 CMCondition: Very good condition, the wood slightly worn in some areasProvenance: British private collection with two valuations from Sotheby's, by Neil K. Davey, dated 1974 & 1984, inventory no. 137Auction comparison: For a netsuke of a comparable netsuke by Masachika see Christie's, Japanese and Korean Art, New York, 21 September 2006, lot 294Literature comparison: A very similar or the same netsuke illustrated with a line drawing in The Meinertzhagen Card Index on Netsuke in the Archives of the British Museum Part A, Frederick Meinertzhagen (edited by George Lazarnick), New York, 1986, page 408.