Manju-netsuke, Scholar, 19th century
Red lacquer
Diameter4,3 cm
Status
not on displayThis relief depicts a monk instructing a student in botany. These manju netsuke are among the oldest forms and are named after a round, flat Japanese pastry. As small objects, called Netsuke, they were used as counterweights to attach containers for medicine, tobacco or money to the belt of the kimono, known as the "obi". Predominantly made of ivory and boxwood, the objects were first created in the seventeenth century and evolved into status symbols. When Japan opened up to the West in the 1860s, kimonos went out of fashion and so did netsuke.
AccessionGift of Bruno Werdelmann 2004
Provenance[...]; bis 25.10.2004 Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. Bruno Werdelmann (1920 – 2010), Ratingen; 25.10.2004 erworben durch Schenkung von Bruno WerdelmannInventory numberP 2005-118
Contact
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