A kurogaki (black persimmon) wood netsuke of tengu no tamago (hatching tengu)By Tachikawa Senshiro Tomitane (Takusai) (1817-1887), Suwa, Shinano Province, mid-late 19th centuryThe karasu (crow-beaked) tengu bearing a fierce expression levering itself out of its egg, one wing trailing over the shell, the wood of distinctive grain and the eyes inlaid in pale and dark horn, signed in an oval reserve Takusai. 4.2cm (1 5/8in).注脚黒柿彫根付　天狗の卵　銘 「琢斎」　19世紀中期/後期Published:Earle, Huthart, p.318, no.289.Senshiro Tomitane founded a branch line of the Tachikawa family and changed his name to Takusai, the name by which he is better known to later scholars.