Netsuke, Courtesan and Servant, ca. 1800–1850
Ivory
Height5,9 cm
About the workCourtesans were an important part of Japanese society. Their depiction as netsuke certainly had erotic aspects, but these were not directly displayed. As small figures, called Netsuke, they were used as counterweights used 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 2005-401
