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Netsuke
Edo period (1615–1868)
- Medium
- Carved wood
- Classification
- Costume and Accessories
- Culture
- Japan
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel M. Nickerson
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Inrô and netsuke were usually designed as paired sets, echoing and reinforcing a single theme. In this set, the gold-lacquered inrô is in the shape of a hollowed wooden block of the sort struck in Buddhist rituals to keep time for chanting. It is decorated with dragon faces and dragon scale patterns to situate it squarely in a Chinese otherworld. The accompanying netsuke replicates both the Chinese and percussion themes of the inrô, portraying a figure with a stereotypical Chinese hairstyle marching to the beat of a drum as large as himself. Though in modern times, sets have often been broken up to cater to the separate markets of inrô and netsuke collecting, this set fortunately remains intact.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
