An excellent set of Ezo menuki, each with a shishi and flora motif. Workmanship is excellent on this set as they are executed in a carving technique called katachibori, where the subject itself becomes the outline of the menuki. This is accomplished by hammering from the back called uchidashi. Then they are worked with fine carving and engraving from the front to finish the design. The menuki have both height and niku. The style of the shishi is an older format, with billowy manes, and ridged backs. There is very little sukashi, which distinguishes them from the earliest period of Ezo-style works, as well as the more martial, animated motif, which coincides with artistic resurgence and zen beliefs in the early Muromachi period.
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