This small mennetsuke-style ivory netsuke features a mask of an old man's face. The man has a wrinkled brow and cheeks, and his mouth is laughing. He has a long mustache and a beard that curls up onto the reverse side of the mask. The artist's signature is on the back. This is likely a copy of a No theater jo-kei (old man) mask. A mennetsuke is a mask netsuke, and is one of the most popular netsuke forms, along with katabori (sculptural, three-dimensional) netsuke.
