There is an excitement to eccentric netsuke, and a dimension of an artistic personality and vision which raises these creations from the level of craft to art. The simple fact is that individual, experimental netsuke are much more difficult to understand than identifiable hack work – even great hack work – and are therefore much more gratifying when one does understand them.
 
This ambitious catalogue features contributory essays illustrated by 123 fine examples, examining in some depth the work of eight netsuke carvers and one lacquerer. Ted Wrangham writes about Ritsuo, George Weil on Masanao of Kyoto, Arlette Katchen on Tametaka, Neil Davey on Ogasawara Issai, Mary Hillier’s Oriental Art article on Sessai is borrowed, Paul Moss wrote about Kokusai, Hoshunsai Masayuki on Tokoku, and Richard Silverman on Kano Tessai.