Netsuke
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Japanese artists starting in the 17th century cleverly invented the miniature sculptures known as netsuke (Japanese:根付) to serve a very practical function. (The two Japanese characters ne+tsuke mean "root" and "to suspend or hang" in reference to the roots and twigs used as toggles before carved netsuke were produced.) Traditional Japanese garments - robes called kosode and kimono - had no pockets. Men who wore them needed a place to keep personal belongings such as pipes, tobacco, money, seals, or medicines.
The elegant solution was to place such objects in containers (called sagemono) hung by cords from the robes' sash (obi). The containers might take the form of a pouch or a small woven basket, but the most popular were beautifully crafted boxes (inro), which were held shut by ojime, sliding beads on cords. Whatever the form of the container, the fastener that secured its cord at the top of the sash was a carved, button-like toggle called a netsuke.
Such objects, often of great artistic merit, have a long history reflecting important aspects of Japanese folklore and life. Netsuke production was most popular during the Edo period in Japan, around 1615-1868. Today, the art lives on and carvers, a few of whose modern works command high prices (US$10,000 to $100,000, or more), are in the UK, Europe, the USA, Japan and elsewhere. Prices at auctions in the USA for collectible netsuke typically range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. Inexpensive molded, faithful reproductions are available in museum shops and elsewhere for $30, or less.
Forms of Netsuke
- katabori - this is the most familiar style, a compact three-dimensional figure carved in the round, usually around one to three inches high
- anabori - subset of katabori which is hollowed-out and carved within; the most common are scenes in clams
- sashi - this is an elongated form of katabori, similar in length to the sticks and gourds used as improvised netsuke before carved pieces were produced, about six inches long
- mask - the largest category after katabori, these were often imitations of full size noh masks, and share characteristics in common with both katabori and manju/kagamibuta
- manju - a thick, flat, round type of netsuke, with carving usually done in relief, sometimes made of two ivory halves
- ryusa - shaped like a manju, but carved like lace, so that light shines completely through
- kagamibuta - shaped like a manju, but with a metal disc serving as lid to a shallow bowl, usually of ivory. The metal is often highly decorated with a wide variety of metallurgical techniques.
- trick/animated - any netsuke that does something, ones with moving parts or hidden surprises
Materials Used
- ivory - this was the most common material used before ivory harvesting became illegal
- boxwood and other hardwoods - the second most popular material in Edo Japan, still used today
- metal - used for accents in many types of netsuke and for the lids of kagamibuta
- hippopotamus tooth - used in lieu of ivory today
- rhinoceros horn
- coral
- clay/porcelain
- lacquer
- woven cane
Unusual materials used in netuske2005 INS conference Burt Drexler lecture, unless otherwise noted
What are they? How to detect them in Netsuke?
Hornbill ivory: Hornbills are curious-looking birds that are found throughout the Orient as well as in Africa and Australia. There are 11 species of hornbill in Malaysia alone. As the name suggests, the hornbill has a large casque on the upper mandible. The size and shape of the bill and casque vary among species.
Of the many varieties of hornbill, only the helmeted hornbill (Buceros vigil or Rhinoplax vigil) furnishes an ivory-like substance. This is a dense, carvable substance found in the solid casque growing above the upper mandible (the bird’s forehead). Structurally, it is not ivory, horn, or bone, yet it has been called ivory for many centuries. It is softer than real ivory and is a creamy yellow in color, becoming red at the top and sides. This particular species is native to only Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo, and lives in the highest trees. It is seldom seen from the ground despite its 5-foot length from beak to tail.George Bernstein, the Ivory Hound on the internet_ for this paragraph
By the beginning of the 20th century, the bird was becoming extinct, having been slaughtered mercilessly for the sake of the carvable casque. By the middle of the 20th century, it had lost its international character in world trade, and this decline in interest has helped the bird to recover, although it is still endangered. ... All hornbill items are rare.George Bernstein, the Ivory Hound on the internet_ for this paragraph
Coral: Coral is the hard skeletons of various marine organisms. It is chiefly carbonate of lime. ... Beyond their general utility and value as sources of lime, few of the corals present any special feature of industrial importance, excepting the red or precious coral (Corallium rubrum).Encyclopedia Britanica Precious coral is the species of coral valued for jewelry. It has a hard core that can be highly polished. Polishing brings out red, rose, or pink colors. ... Precious coral grows in small bushlike formations in the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Japan.The World Book Encyclopedia
Umimatsu: A species of black coral with dense texture, concentric growth rings, and amber [and redish] colored inclusions in the black material. According to Michael Birch “The literal translation of umimatsu is ‘sea pine,’ and it is also popularly described as ‘black coral.’ True coral, however, is a hard calcareous substance secreted by marine polyps for habitation. Umimatsu, on the other hand is a colony of keratinous antipatharian marine organisms. Keratin is a nitrogenous substance which forms the basis of horns, nails, and claws. Rhinocerous horn, for example, is also keratinous.”Lazarnick Book
There is a black coral, popularly used for jewelry in Hawaii, which tends to be black with some white in it —no color, however. One finds more on black coral, than on umimatsu, and so one can assume there is some similarity. According to SusanScott.net, “Black coral grows in all oceans. Most of the 150 known species live in tropical waters below about 150 feet. The few that thrive in shallower water, 60 feet or less, grow in caves under ledges where light is dim. . . .Black corals thrive in such darkness because they don’t have symbiotic plants in their tissues, like reef corals do.
“Another difference between these two coral types is that black coral does not form reefs or heads. A colony of black coral looks like a tree growing up from the ocean floor. The largest of such trees in Hawaii reach about 6 feet tall. . . . The trunks and branches of black coral . . . are as hard as ivory and pearl.”
According to Bushell (13/ 2:6), “The literal translation . . . is seapine. . . . Whether literal or figurative the translation is a misnomer, as the material is, in actuality, a coral formed by skeletons of living organisms. . . . In color, umimatsu, black coral, is black or blackish brown, sometimes showing streaks of light brown or dirty yellow.” Bushell goes on: “As material, umimatsu is more acceptable to collectors than carvers. Leading carvers naturally avoided the material. It was prone to crack, crumble or chip. Carvers find that it is risky for carving details and subtle effects. Perfect pieces of black coral were difficult to obtain.”
Umoregi: There are several definitions, some contradictory: According to Bushell “Umoregi is a partially fossilized wood having the general appearance of ebony, but showing no grain.” Alain Ducros ( 9/ 3:40 ) “First let us deal with umoregi, often called fossilized wood. Umoregi is not properly a wood, but a jet, a variety of lignite that is often confused with ebony. It is a shiny material and takes an excellent polish but it has a tendency to split.”
“Jet,” says Britannica, is “a substance which seems to be a peculiar kind of lignite or anthracite; often cut and polished for ornaments,”
On the internet: “Umoregi-zaiku is petrified wood formed when cedar and pine trees from the Tertiary Age (5 million years ago) were buried underground and then carbonized. The layers of earth where umoregi-zaiku can be found extend under the Aobayama and Yagiyama sections of Sendai, [Japan].” Then this article goes on to say of pieces made, that they are “generally dark brown with a beautiful wood grain and the soft luster of lacquer.”
Drexler: "I thought once that there was no such thing as umoregi, until I found a netsuke that is little more than a chunk of umoregi. But how to distinguish it from ebony when carved is another problem."
Walrus tusk: The walrus has two large tusks (elongated canine teeth) projecting downward from the upper jaw. These tusks, often reaching two feet in length, have been extensively carved as ivory for centuries in many countries and especially in Japan. Walrus tusk carvings are usually easy to identify, because much of the interior of the tooth is filled with a mottled, almost translucent substance that is harder and more resistant to carving than the rest of the tooth. Manju, especially ryusa manju, invariably show this translucent material at opposite edges of the netsuke.
Whale's tooth: The sperm whale has teeth running the whole length of its enormous lower jaw. Those in the middle tend to be the largest often obtaining a length of more than six to eight inches. These larger ones are often used by carvers of scrimshaw. Drexler: "I have a smaller whales tooth that is just about the size that each of several of my netsuke might have been carved from."
Whale bone: All bones are hollow, the cavity being filled with a spongy material. Cuts across some bone show a pattern of minute holes looking like dark dots. Lengthwise, such bone displays many narrow channels which appear to be dark lines of varying lengths. Polished, bone is more opaque and less shiny than ivory.
Teeth: A variety of teeth are used for netsuke: boar's, bear's, even tiger's.
Tagua nut: Nut from the ivory palm, referred to as vegetable ivory. Other names are: Corozo Nut: (British) (sometimes Spelled Corrozo); Binroji Nut:(Japanese); Coquilla Nut:(Brazil); Steinnuss:(German). From Central or South America. Part of the nut’s shell sometimes remains on netsuke carvings. Though often mistaken for or deceptively sold as elephant ivory, items made from the two-to-three-inch nut have none of the striations common to animal ivory, and sometimes the ivory-like nut flesh has a light yellow cast under a rough coconut-shell-like external covering. Nearly round to a slightly oval shape, many nuts are found in a large nut cluster, sort of like seeds in a hugely outsized pomegranate. Nut is very hard when dry, but easily worked into artistic items when wet.
Bamboo: “Bamboo (Iyo bamboo) is used for netsuke. Bamboo netsuke are either a piece of the stem or the root with carving on it.”Yuzuru Okada According to Bernard Rosett (14/2 :40-44): “Carvings in the round are usually made from the underground stem of the plant, that small almost solid zone that connects to the creeping rhizome below the ground. Bamboo netsuke are not commonly encountered. Occasionally, one comes across a netsuke fashioned from bamboo root and can revel in the wonderful texture and patina of the material.”
Agate: A mineral, streaked with many colors, can be given a high polish. Most agate comes from quarries in Brazil and Uruguay. World Book Encyclopedia
Subject Categories
More than any other art form, netsuke reflect the nature of the society that produced them. The reasons why this is so are largely beyond the scope of this article, but they include long periods of isolation imposed both by geography and internal politics, and limited avenues of self-expression for Japanese citizens due to custom and law. As a result, netsuke display every aspect of Japan at that time, including its rich folklore and religion, every craft, trade, and profession, all types of people and creatures, both real and imagined, and every kind of object.
- people - famous and anonymous, current, historical, real and fictitious, children, warriors, priests, etc.
- animals - zodiac animals and others, it is worth noting that tradition netsuke style depicts octopus figures as having a tube like siphon protruding from the "face" similar to a mouth.
- plants and plant products - small one, such as beans and chestnuts, are often carved life-size
- deities and mythical creatures - often from Chinese myth and religion
- non-living things - the smallest category. Common examples include roof tiles, coins, and tools
- abstract - mon patterns and other designs
- sexual - "shunga" netsuke may depict a male and female in sexual conjugation, or may contain only subtle or symbolic sexual references
References
See also
External links
- http://www.netsuke.org. The International Netsuke Society publishes a journal for collectors and holds international meetings bi-annually.
- See examples of this art at http://www.netsuke.com.
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