help with Netsuke maker

I am trying to identify the maker of a netsuke. It is my understanding that it may be the Chinese or Japanese reading. The kanji seem different than i am used to. I would have guessed Hiromasa or kwan__ but i doubt i am right. Any help appreciated

Thanks!

竜珎

Not sure how this would be read but the kanji are ryu/tatsu and ho/chin....

Therer were many artists with the name Ryuchin, one with kakihan, maybe this artist;

Artist

RYUCHIN

Period

C. 1865-1911

Fam.Name

YAMADA BUNJIRO(GANJIRO)

O.Names

GYOKUHOSAI (K191/K519/K497} , RYUCHINSAI

School

EDO(TOKYO)

PUPIL OF RYUKEI, TEACHER OF KOGYOKU

Be careful though as there were (perhaps other, possibly the same person) carvers using the name Ryuchin who did not use either of those Kanji. eg 龍珍

In this case there is a nice example in the MCI, p.667, Entry no. 1709, with the same characters and the same seal as yours.

(N.Davey in NETSUKE does not record an example of a Ryuchin with your way of writing, BTW)

Thanks for all the info! it points me in the right direction. Can i ask what book this is (MCI, p.667, Entry no. 1709)? I have a couple of books on nestuke but not many as that is not my main area of interest.

thanks again

Mark, the MCI is the Meinertzhagen Card Index (of all the Netsuke in the British Museum?). It comes in two books and usually costs well over 1,000 USD if you can even find a copy. One of the two 'bibles' of Netsuke. You might want to spend some time over on the International Netsuke Society site too, where there is a ton of information and an active forum.

http://netsuke.websitetoolbox.com/

thanks to all for the help, i will enjoy my search