Netsuke, Dutchman, ca. 1810
Ivory, pupils and buttons of the dress and gaiters inlaid in brown and black horn
Height5,1 cm
Place of originKyoto
About the workThe unusual appearance of Dutch merchants in Asia often inspired netsuke carvers to create comically exaggerated designs with large eyes, bulbous noses and beards. As small figures, 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 Werdelmann
Inventory numberP 2005-24
