Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/208

 ago—when the names of netsuke-carvers were first thought worthy of historical record, their works began to be copied, even to the signatures, and though a little care should guarantee the collector against mistaking for old masterpieces the begrimed, medicated, and comparatively rough forgeries of modern times, a combination of age and the cachet of a renowned master does not prove that the work is not an imitation, and should never be deemed sufficient evidence of excellence. Quality is everything. There must be not only delicacy and finish, together with strength of line and accuracy of detail, but there must also be eloquent vitality, simple directness of treatment, grace of conception, and, in a majority of cases, an element of humour. Certain favourite designs have been produced again and again,—a group of rats or rabbits; Shōki, the demon-slayer; an imp hiding under Shōki's discarded hat; the fight of the three blind shampooers; a wild bear among reeds; Watanabe and the demon; Daruma roused from his pious reverie by a rat; a monkey with its paw caught by a giant clam; an old man sneezing; a mountain elf (tengu) emerging from an egg-shell; the fight between Benkei and Yoshitsune ; Urajima and the casket of longevity; New-Year mummers (manzai); groups of tortoises; saru-gaku dancers; the Dog of Fo (shishi) and peonies; a boy peeping through the mouth of a shishi mask; a cicada on a dead twig; a snail crawling on its shell; a peasant woman carrying a child; wrestlers; Otafuke, the vulgar Venus, washing her neck at a tub; Kagura dancers; monkeys and peaches; a bee on a gourd; the Lady Tokiwa and her three children journeying through the snow; an owl on a decayed stump; a