|
When wearing traditional dress, Japanese men and women carried
their small personal possessions by attaching them to a cord which
was tucked into a belt or sash (obi) and held in place
by a carved toggle, or netsuke. The first netsuke
were natural materials, such as shells, pieces of wood or bamboo,
and stones. Later netsuke were art objects, beautifully
carved in a range of materials. The earliest known netsuke
are from the eighteenth century but they were probably used earlier
than this.
Netsuke are sometimes not just toggles and carvings, but
have a further function – as a sundial or ashtray. The small
ivory netsuke at the right of this picture is also an ashtray.
View
database record 1980.34.1812
|
