"Netsuke - tiny, exquisitely carved sculptures used as toggles to secure items suspended at the waist - have long been an obsession for collectors, in the West as well as in the East. They depict a wide variety of figures and cultural icons, from tradesmen to otherworldly beings; revered animals of the zodiac and the marketplace; or representations of the decidedly domestic and the frankly erotic. While several books have been published on the subject, few examine these diminutive masterpieces in the context of Japanese life, or detail the origins of the designs and themes that evolved through the centuries." "Netsuke: Fantasy and Reality in Japanese Miniature Sculpture delves into the minds of the artists who created these ornaments and of the people who have used and treasured them, their culture, and their influences. It studies the artists' fascination with, and frequent use of, the "other," whether Chinese mythical figures or odd-looking foreigners. And it explores the question of the objects' use, both as functional decoration and as symbols of individuality and personal taste. Lavishly illustrated with more than 500 color photographs of carvings, details, signatures, and images of netsuke from paintings and folios - and published to coincide with an extensive exhibition - Netsuke is the definitive work on these remarkably minute, endlessly intricate objects."--Jacket.
|
