Signed and dated 1994
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H. approx. 5 cm
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The crouching Dutchman is carved from a superb piece of stag antler near the corona. It looks as if the Dutchman is inspecting something at a low level in front of him, but as JKL Birch (The Art & Life of Michael Birch, 2013, p.88) notes, knowing Michael Birch’s sense of humour, the Dutchman is probably just flashing his behind. The porous sections of the antler are filled with clear lacquer, giving the surface a unique glossy feel, the clasp is inlaid in pink coral and the blue eyes in a drawn crystal rod.
 
Literature: Besides in the aforementioned book by JKL Birch, also in David Burditt, Michael Birch, International Netsuke’s Society Journal, Volume 16, no. 2, Summer 1996, p. 40, fig. 11.
 
Exhibited: Sotheby’s Bond Street London, 1994 and The Carvings of Michael Birch, N.K.C., New York, 1997.