Izumi Sukeyuki, Snake and Frog Kimono, Wood Inlayed with Horn and Shakudo, Meiji Era, Late 19th Century, Japan
Sukeyuki lived in Omi Province, present-day Shiga Prefecture, in the town of Bamba. He was a master carver of butsudan or family Buddhist altars. On a visit to Hida-Takayama he was amazed to see the okimono and netsuke by the carver Sukemizu, and resolved to start carving similar pieces. Famous for his frog netsuke, Sukeyuki also used the Go or art name Gamatei Sukeyuki.
Sukeyuki’s kimono in the form of a hungry snake conversing with a plump frog, is carved from a single piece of wood. The eyesare inlaid in horn and the snake’s tongue is made of shakudo. It is signed on the reverse with an inlaid seal form wood plaque,