There are three companies directly importing ivory to Japan: Miyakoshi, Kitagawa, and Kita. Ivory manufacturers, netsuke agents, or dealers can buy tusks at any time, but when the importers are overstocked, they sell at auction. Normally, ivory auctions take place once or twice a month. Usually, a whole tusk must be purchased, but occasionally some "points" (pointed ends of tusks) appear at auction when the African exporter has sent the poorer parts of tusks to other countries and only the points to Japan.
Tusk points are usually bought for netsuke carving and are 50-70 centimeters (20-28 inches) in length. The fine-grained, hard ivory comes from this part of the tusk, which is solid. At the larger end of the point, a slice can sometimes be cut into three triangular pieces for three netsuke. The middle part of the tusk, also solid, can be used for large figures and an occasional netsuke. The bottom, or large end of the tusk, is hollow and can be used for some types of okimono as well as for chopsticks, flowers, or accessories. No part of the tusk is wasted.
Netsuke material must be of high grade, and sometimes there will be no ivory of netsuke quality in a whole tusk. Dealers and agents who furnish ivory to their carvers often buy netsuke ivory from shops or manufacturers of chopsticks, jewelry, flowers, and other ivory articles. Since these items do not require top-grade ivory, the good ivory can be saved and resold for netsuke carving.
Some merchants import ivory and hire carvers to produce all kinds of ivory pieces: jewelry, flowers, fruit, okimono, and other decorative pieces, as well as netsuke, for their own shops in Japan or to sell to other local or foreign dealers. All ivory must be hand-carved, and every carver has his specialty. All ivory work is done by the carver in his own home, and the merchant-importer has both first-rank artist-carvers and division (bungyo) carvers working for him.
The latter carvers are craftsmen—many of them highly skilled—who make the inexpensive netsuke found in shops and stores all over the world, as well as in shops throughout Japan. These netsuke, usually carved from models supplied by the employer, lack the originality and the time-consuming, meticulous attention to detail that are found in the first-rank carvers' work. But they are hand-crafted, typical Japanese mementos that the tourist, the person not yet “hooked" on serious netsuke collecting, or someone who cannot afford the higher cost of the better contemporary netsuke, can easily carry, keep, handle, and enjoy.
WORKMANSHIP
Japan is a small, insular country. The prewar Japanese were generally small-boned and small in stature. Their penchant for artistic expression on a small scale and their digital skill can readily be seen in the development of such art forms as sword furniture and netsuke carving.
Toggles and handicraft articles somewhat similar to netsuke have been found in other countries, but the scrupulous, skillful workmanship and the delicate and precise carving of netsuke are virtually unknown outside of Japan.
Time meant little to the early carver. Days, weeks, or months went into the making of a netsuke masterpiece. As any craftsman knows, the task of reducing elaborately ornate or abstractly simple designs to an incredibly small scale requires infinite patience and time as well as great skill and talent. Unfortunately, with the extremely high cost of living in Japan today, time is no longer an expendable component of netsuke making. Due to pressures from dealers and economic demands, occasionally there is quite a spread in the quality of the work from a first-rank carver. In short, in addition to his first-rate netsuke (which may include true masterpieces) there may be pieces that obviously have taken considerably less time to produce or for other reasons are below the capability of the carver.
Two questions are often asked by collectors or potential collectors: “Does the contemporary carver use any power tools for rough work or for polishing?" and “How does the workmanship of a first-rate netsuke carved today compare with that of antique netsuke?"
A few first-rank carvers today own dental drills which they use very sparingly on less than ten percent of their total work. A few also make limited use of an electric polisher. In this connection, it must be remembered that over one hundred years ago some netsuke carvers employed lathes, although these tools were simple and rough. The majority of living carvers use no power tools; they carve with self-made tools and hand-polish their netsuke. The various facets of the workmanship involved in the making of a netsuke will be explored in detail in the following chapter.
Comparison of contemporary and antique netsuke involving comparable techniques will compel even the most prejudiced antique-netsuke collector to admit that the workmanship of some of today's first-rank carvers is fully as admirable as that of the early masters. The absence of functional restrictions often takes a contemporary carver into highly imaginative, intricate designs, involving delicate, exquisite workmanship and the display of craft techniques that cut across various traditional professional schools.
The world in which the netsuke carver lives today is very different from the world of the old masters. But the spirit and the technical skill of the early carvers is splendidly alive in the first-rank contemporary carvers.
4. CUTTLEFISH IN A BASKET. Wood and ivory. Signed: Sosui. Date: 1945. Sosui's incomparable technique in this netsuke is so skillful that the basket actually appears to have been woven. The quiet design, involving the contrast of ivory on wood, and the high technical proficiency combine to make this one of his finest netsuke. Several years ago, when Sosui was asked to indicate his favorite netsuke subject, he replied, "Cuttlefish in a basket." (Enlargement: 2.0 times)
5. OTTER. Wood. Signed: Sosui. Date: 1930-50. Sosui's love of animals is clearly apparent in his carving of an otter on a log, about to eat a fish. This is a rare subject in netsuke. The elongated form of the animal has been naturally positioned on the gracefully carved log in such a manner as to preserve, unobtrusively, the functionalism of the netsuke. (Enlargement: 1.7 times)
6. BADGER AND "EARTHQUAKE" FISH. Wood. Signed: Shinzan. Date: 1968. Shinzan's beautifully carved double-figure netsuke depicts a mujina (a type of badger) and a namazu (catfish, associated with earthquakes because it is so active before they occur) locked in a furious struggle. The convolutions of the two animals have made possible a netsuke design of true functional form. (Enlargement: 1.3 times)
7. THE TWELVE ZODIAC ANIMALS. Ivory. Signed: Meigyokusai. Date: 1960-70. The twelve zodiac animals are the subjects most frequently portrayed in netsuke: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and boar. They are usually carved individually, but occasionally artists have undertaken the difficult task of presenting the entire group in a single netsuke. Meigyokusai is one of the few carvers to succeed in the feat, and his netsuke is both a marvel of workmanship and a design of rare beauty. (Enlargement: 2.0 times)
8. CLUSTER OF RATS. Ivory. Signed: Kangyoku. Date: 1965-70. The rat is the first sign of the Oriental zodiac. Rats are symbols not only of good luck but also of wealth and prosperity because of their association with Daikoku, god of wealth, whose servants they are. By skillfully carving seven rats in a cluster, Kangyoku has preserved traditional functionalism in this netsuke. His use of light and dark ivory not only lends interest to his carving but also evokes yin-yang connotations. (Enlargement: 1.6 times)