Netsuke Carved in Shape of Folded Letter on Paper Decorated with Court Motifs

19th century

Not on view

This realistic design of autumn ivy, a common sight in Japan, is a motif that recalls the episode in Tales of lse (chapt. 9), in which the poet, traveling to the east along a dark and narrow route overgrown with ivy on Mount Utsu, crosses paths with a wandering ascetic returning to the capital to whom he entrusts a poem of love. The ivory netsuke represents a love letter on paper decorated with courtly designs of paulownia and symbols for the chapters of Genji used in incense games

Artwork Details

Object Information

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Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Netsuke Carved in Shape of Folded Letter on Paper Decorated with Court Motifs
Period: Edo (1615–1868) or Meiji period (1868–1912)
Date: 19th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Ivory
Dimensions: H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); W. 2 in. (5.1 cm)
Classification: Netsuke
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Russell Sage, 1910
Object Number: 10.211.419
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Inrō with Autumn Ivy

, Koma Kyūhaku VI Japanese, Four cases; lacquered wood with gold, silver, and color (iroko) togidashimaki-e on black lacquer ground<br/>Netsuke: ivory; folded letter decorated with paulownia and Genji incense symbols <br/>Ojime: oblong bead; gilt bronze with openwork design of autumn flowers, Japan — Inrō with Autumn Ivy
Attributed to Koma Kyūhaku VI
early 19th century

Ojime, Gold, Japan — Ojime
Japan
18th century

Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese — Armor (*Gusoku*)
Armorer Helmet bowl signed Saotome Ietada
Armorer Breastplate inscribed inside, Myōchin Munesuke
16th and 18th centuries

Netsuke, Ivory ornamented with lacquer, Japan — Netsuke
Japan
19th century

Shō, Bamboo wood, metal, Japanese — Shō
Japanese
19th century

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