Page 98 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868
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38 43 • These hanging "pouches" are made
Yamada Jókasai (c. 1681 - 1704) Hasegawa Shigeyoshi up of three components — inró, ojime,
Inrô, ojirne, and netsuke: (late eighteenth century) and netsuke — bound together by a
View of pasture Inró, ojime, and netsuke: silken cord. The inró is a tiered, shaped
Folded papers container, usually made from wood,
Lacquer with makie;
ojime coral; netsuke ivory Lacquer with makie; ojime gold; lacquer, or ivory. The ojime is the bead
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Height of inró 10 (3 /s) netsuke stained ivory that pulls together the silken cord. And
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Tokyo National Museum Height of inró 7 (2 A) the netsuke is a toggle, fixed at one
Tokyo National Museum end of the cord to prevent the inró
from slipping off the sash from which
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Shiomi Seisei (1647-1722) 44 it would have been hung.
Inrô, ojime, and netsuke: Mizutani school Inró are thought to have originated in
Well's head Inró, ojime, and netsuke: China and been brought into Japan 97
Old coins sometime in the fourteenth century.
Lacquer with makie and
mother-of-pearl; netsuke ivory Lacquer with makie; netsuke wood They are first mentioned in a famous
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Height of inrô 7.3 (2 /s) Height of inró 7.3 (2 /s) document of 1320 as being a round or
Tokyo National Museum Tokyo National Museum square stacked box made of carved
lacquer that could hold fruit as well
as a seal and a stamp pad. Inró (liter-
40 45
lizukaTóyó (active 1764-1772) Kajikawa school ally "seal pouches") were used by
inrô, ojime, and netsuke: Inró, ojime, and netsuke: merchants and samurai alike to carry
Domestic /owl Hawk and pine tree the seals necessary for completing
transactions. By the early Edo period
Lacquer with makie; netsuke amber Lacquer with makie; ojime coral; the tiers of the inró were used to con-
Height of inró 8.2 (s'A) netsuke wood tain the powdered medicines popular
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Tokyo National Museum Height of inró 6.1 (2 /s) at the time. Inró designs generally
Tokyo National Museum referred to the seasons and would be
41 worn accordingly. In the early i6oos
Shibayama school 46 inró were carried together with a
Inrô, ojime, and netsuke: lizukaTóyó (active 1764-1772) money pouch.
Bird and flower Inró, ojime, and netsuke:
Wild geese and reeds In the early seventeenth century net-
Lacquer with makie and suke were simple in form, but by the
various inlays Lacquer with makie; netsuke bamboo 16905, when they were first depicted
Height of inró 8.8 (3 'A) Height of inró 8.2 (s'A) in a woodblock book of various pro-
Tokyo National Museum Tokyo National Museum fessions (Kunmó zui), they had started
to become an art form on their own.
42 47 Netsuke carvers were first listed as
Shiomi Seisei (1647 - 1722) Koma Kanya (nineteenth century) residing all over Japan in a book of
Inrô, ojime, and netsuke: Inrô, ojime, and netsuke: 1781 that focused on swords and
Mouse Cicada related paraphernalia (Sóken kishó).
As a rule, eighteenth-century netsuke
Lacquer with makie; netsuke Bamboo with makie;
black persimmon ojime metal; netsuke ivory are larger than those of the nine-
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Height of inró 6.7 (2 /s) Height of inró 6.3 (272) teenth century, which tend to be
Tokyo National Museum Tokyo National Museum miniaturized. NCR
