Netsuke depicting a standing man and a seated woman under a pine tree, both holding masks in their hands. His mask shows an old man, hers an old woman. In addition, he is holding a tool. She has a hunch. On the underside there is a signature and two pine branches cut. The motif depicts two main characters from the no play Takasago (also called Sumiyoshi's Divinity) which, because it contains figures who are divinities, symbolizes, among other things, happiness. In the play there are an elderly couple by a pine tree, under which they rake the ground. However, it is actually the spirits of two pine trees that are embodied by the old couple. (Komparu 1983, p. 52). According to other versions of the story, the old couple met when they were very young and have lived happily together all their lives. After death they return to the place where they lived, by the pine tree near the sea.
The kimono having no pockets, accessories have to be carried somehow. Women could put small objects in their sleeves and sash, whereas men, mainly, would hang their various boxes, pipes and brush cases on a cord at their belt. The portable objects are called sagemono. Accessories became identity-forming status objects and an important part of men´s fashion, a world in miniature with a wealth of subjects. Various kinds of artistically crafted sagemono are known from the 17th century. In addition to boxes for tobacco, cases for personal seals (inro) are one of the best-known types. Literally translated, an inro is a basket (ro) containing a seal (in). Only sealed signatures were legally valid, and so samurai and merchants, for example, needing seal stamps had to carry them in small cases. This was the origin of “seal baskets” (inro), which soon came to be used primarily for carrying medicine. These accessories varied in appearance according to the wearer’s taste and wealth, as well as fashion trends. When Western dress became popular during the Meiji period (1868-1912), there was less need for these portable objects, and they were divided up into their constituent parts (with toggles kept apart) and sold to westerners.
(Based on the text for the exhibition catalogue Japan. Artefacts and images tell the story. 2011).
The function of the netsuke item is to be a counterweight to the "hanging things" (sagemono) worn with the kimono by the men. Common hanging items were various boxes, for example medicine boxes (inro) and tobacco pouches. Netsuke roughly means "fixed root" and early netsuke (before the late 17th century) were probably natural, unprocessed roots and the like. From the 18th century they were made more representative and often in wood or ivory. Eventually, the artists began to sign their netsuke.
(Based on the text for the exhibition Japan. Artefacts and images tell the story. 2011). /PH
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