Japanese Netsuke
Julia Hutt(Author)
V & A Publications (Publisher)
Published on 31. July 2003
Book
Hardback
128 pages
978-1-85177-382-4 (ISBN)
Description
This small toggle was used to counterbalance the container (or inro) worn suspended from a sash by men to store items of everyday use, in the absence of pockets. From such prosaic beginnings the netsuke developed over the centuries into an item of high fashion. The whole of Japanese life was plundered for humorous or poetic subjects: images of animals, birds and sea creatures, portraits of dancers and demons, droll cameos of characters from everyday urban life - even a rare poetic evocation of landscape. The V&A's collection of netsuke is world-famous, and Julia Hutt draws on its many highlights to explore the origins of netsuke and to trace the sources of their designs in prints, paintings and woodblock-printed books. She records the evolution of materials and techniques, and the patterns of craftsmanship, in a text that is both accessible and comprehensive, and illustrated with some of the very finest examples of the genre.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
V & A Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Illustrations
100 colour illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 250 mm
Width: 218 mm
Weight
666 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85177-382-4 (9781851773824)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Julia Hutt is Assisant Curator in the Far Eastern Department of the V&A with responsibility for Japanese laquerwork, inro and netsuke. She is also Course Tutor and Lecturer for the Japanese and Korean module of the SOAS/Sotheby's 'Arts of Asia' course. Her publications include Understanding Far Eastern Art (London and New York, 1987) and Japanese Inro (London, 1997).