THE WONDERFUL WORLD
OF NETSUKE
PLATE 1. HAIRY AINU. The Ainu are the aborigines of japan. According to their oral legends, they came from a land of snow and ice devoid of forests or birds. The land of their legends is thought to be Siberia. They are a Caucasian race, taller and bonier than the japanese, with luxuriant mustaches and beards as opposed to the smooth-skinned japanese. Originally the Ainu were settled extensively throughout japan, but today they are concentrated around Shiraoi in Hokkaido, the northern japanese island, in much the same way as the American Indians on the Arizona reservations.
The Ainu's life is one of fishing and hunting. The great annual Ainu festival is devoted to the worship and sacrifice of a bear. In the illustration, the Ainu is carrying a catch of seals on his back.
The geometric patterns on Ainu clothes resemble American Indian decorations. I like the Scotsman's plaid, the pattern tells which village or clan an Ainu traveler is from. Material: wood. Unsigned. Height: 7.9 cm. From the collection of Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt, Washington, D. C.
The Wonderful World
of Netsuke
With One Hundred Masterpieces of
Miniature Sculpture in Color
by RAYMOND BUSHELL
CHARLES E. TUTTLE CO.: PUBLISHERS
Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan
Representatives
Continental Europe: BOXERBOOKS, INC., Zurich
British Isles: PRENTICE-HALL INTERNATIONAL, INC., London
Australasia: PAUL FLESCH & CO., PTY. LTD., Melbourne
Canada: M. G. HURTIG LTD., Edmonton
Published by the Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.
of Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan
with editorial offices at Osaki Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0032
Copyright in Japan, 1964 by Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc.
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 64-24948
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0874-5 (ebook)
First edition, 1964
Second printing, 1969
PRINTED IN JAPAN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| List of Illustrations | 7 |
| Introduction | 11 |
| Acknowledgments | 12 |
| Plates 3-100 | 15-71 |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS*
| PLATE | ||
| 1 | Hairy Ainu. Wood. Unsigned | Frontispiece |
| 2 | Kanzan and Jittoku. Wood. Unsigned | 14 |
| 3 | Curly-Haired European. Mother-of-pearl. Unsigned | 15 |
| 4 | Europeans with Dogs. Ivory. Unsigned | 16 |
| 5 | European and Game. Ivory. Unsigned | 17 |
| 6 | Fanciful Europeans. Wood—Ivory. Unsigned | 18 |
| 7 | Monkey Songoku. Inlaid wood. Unsigned | 19 |
| 8 | Kudan. Ivory. Unsigned | 19 |
| 9 | Daruma as Saint. Ivory. Hidetsune | 20 |
| 10 | Mermaid and Child. Wood. Kokei | 20 |
| 11 | Woman Daruma. Lacquered wood. Meizan | 21 |
| 12 | Daruma as Toy. Boxwood, teak, and ebony. Segai. | 21 |
| 13 | Wild Boar. Wood. Masatomo | 22 |
| 14 | Wild Boar Group. Wood. Tomokazu | 22 |
| 15 | Horse and Mare. Ivory. Unsigned | 23 |
| 16 | Resting Horse. Ivory. Gyokutosai | 24 |
| 17 | Horse and Rat. Wood. Tomokazu | 25 |
| 18 | Standing Horse. Staghorn. Unsigned | 26 |
| 19 | Rakan. Black pottery. Mokubei | 26 |
| 20 | Handaka Sonja. Painted wood. Attributed to Yoshimura Shuzan | 27 |
| 21 | Owl. Wood. Unsigned | 28 |
| 22 | Mount Fuji and Plovers. True pearl and gold. Ichigyoku. | 28 |
| 23 | Busho Killing the Tiger. Ivory. Minkoku | 29 |
| 24 | Javanese Sword Handle. Wood. Unsigned | 29 |
| 25 | Ghost. Wood. Unsigned |
|