A boar-tusk netsuke of a dragonBy Bokugyuken Toshiharu (died 1859), Hakata, Chikuzen Province, early to mid-19th centuryCarved in relief with a running dragon, signed Bokugyuken Toshiharu. 10.8cm (4¼in) long.注脚猪牙彫根付　竜　銘 「牧牛軒利治」　19世紀前期/中期Provenance:Albert Brockhaus Collection.Published:Albert Brockhaus, Netsuke, Leipzig, F.A. Brockhaus, 1905/9, cat.no.649.Meinertzhagen, MCI, vol.2, p.929 (unillustrated).Earle, Huthart, p.300, no.270.Recent research has established that Bokugyuken Toshiharu was a resident of Hakata in Chikuzen Province, although his style of carving shows distinct affinities with that of Tomiharu and other carvers from Iwami.