Netsuke

This little fellow was one of my treasures for many years before I ever heard of netsukes.

I'd wondered about the holes in his back and just chalked it up to the mystery of the Orient.

But then I learned the truth -- he's a netsuke, of Japanese origin. These little carvings -- ivory, bone, wood -- were used as decorative toggles tied to one end of a silken cord (that's why the little holes) at the other end of which might be a tobacco pouch, a fan, a coin purse, or some such. Since kimonos don't have pockets, small personal items would be carried this way, with the cord threaded through the sash.

I showed my netsuke to my husband's Uncle Charley -- a collector of many things -- and he became enchanted with these tiny works of art. In almost no time he had acquired quite an assortment of these little delights and he passed a few on to me.

This wonderful dancer's face rotates to present two different personalities.

There are many netsukes of varying quality for sale -- some true works of art, some made in Hong Kong for the tourist trade, some exquisite copies meant to pass as the real thing.

I wouldn't dare to make guesses about any of these. But I like this rooster.

And this mermaid with her mer-baby.














There's a signature -- though that's no guarantee of anything.

When Uncle Charley passed away, his son gave me this fine dog from the collection.

The rest of these I know to be reproductions -- the only affordable netsukes these days.

But they're still little beauties.

(The photos were taken when I was playing with the Nikon.)