A stained boxwood netsuke of a crayfish on an awabi (abalone) shellBy Bokugyuken Toshiharu (died 1859), Hakata, Chikuzen Province, mid-19th centuryThe crayfish resting atop an abalone shell, its antennae and legs drawn in for compactness, its tail flared as it curls around its left side, signed Bokugyuken. 5.1cm (2in).注脚黄楊彫根付　鮑に乗る伊勢海老　銘 「牧牛軒」　19世紀中期Provenance:Raymond Huet Collection.Sold at Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 1928, lot 214.Anne Hull Grundy Collection.Published:Meinertzhagen, MCI, vol.2, p.929 (unillustrated).Rokusho 20, p.68, no.97.Earle, Huthart, p.301, no.271.