A JAPANESE WOODEN NETSUKE

A JAPANESE WOODEN NETSUKE
Probably 19th c.
7,8 cm high
Provenance: Collection Rene Vittoz (1904 St. Petersburg - 1992 Bern). His father was a Protestant pastor in St. Petersburg. In 1918 the family had to leave Russia and moved back to their Swiss homeland. Rene Vittoz studied in Geneva and Lausanne and received his doctorate in Romance languages. In Bern he was a teacher of French and art history. He has authored several books, worked as a painter and was a passionate art collector. After his death, some items were already auctioned at Christies.