context: lacquerwork > artists

a mantis

Tsuchida Soetsu 1660-1745?

Julia Hutt suggests that Soetsu may have been descended from a lacquer craftsman of the same family name known to have been part of Koetsu's arts colony. Whatever the case, he was certainly a follower of Koetsu, and a major figure in the Edo area. The inro pictured perhaps suggests inferior workmanship, judging from the gap between the lowest case and the rest, but the lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlay look as good as new. Note also the complementary netsuke carving.

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