Netsuke Central

[Bugyotsuji]

Dang, the site just lost all the text for these next shots. Posting without, as I am not feeling the energy to do it over again. More fool me for not saving it before trying repeatedly to push the Submit Reply button.

 

And

[Matsunoki]

2 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Dang, the site just lost all the text for these next shots.

That’s a shame Piers because I haven’t got a clue what they are!

Love the teppo. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Colin, I’ll put up a description after recharging the old batteries! 

[Bugyotsuji]

1. Pilgrim’s or priest’s incense container hanging from a small brass ashtray netsuke. This is the smallest example I have; you would put a pinch of fluffy tinder in the bowl when starting a fire with flint and steel.

 

2. Wooden cylinder with compass under glass at one end. That’s the metal part of it!
(Single Himotōshi hole not visible in these shots.) 

It has been said that travellers used these old compasses to avoid certain unlucky directions. You might choose two sides of a triangle for example, instead of a straight route to Kyoto, if that afforded ‘feng shui’ (Ch) 風水 fū sui (J) protection.

 

3. Chased brass netsuke which opens to contain dry tinder. The sagemono strings also acted to keep the top on firmly. Sometimes called Gamaho-ire, because one of the best forms of tinder was the fluff from the 穂 heads of 蒲 bulrushes or reed mace.

蒲の穂入れ

[Matsunoki]

Thanks Piers. Little lasting remnants of times gone by. Quite evocative. We had vinaigrettes and snuff boxes etc!

[Brian]

Love that small teppo shaped one.

[zanilu]

Piers 

 

The copper wire woven basket seems to have the holes between the wires filled with some sort of stuff. Does my eyes do not meselead me?

 

If this is the case it reminds me of Shingen tsuba like this one:

 

Regards 

Luca 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Good point, Luca. What is dust, and what is original material? I’ll have a closer look at it. 

(Liking the strong handwoven feeling of your Shingen tsuba! An early example?)

 

Edited

Yes, after brushing out the dust, it looks like some kind of pitch has been used in the weave.

3.3 cm x 4.3 cm x 1.7 cm

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Having mentioned ivory earlier, here is a little drawer of elephant ivory Netsuke that I decided to keep. Legally there is not much I can do with them, but they are fun to take out just to admire the carving and to remember the stories behind them.

 

Today I was sorting out a larger drawer. Following this post I’ll show some of the ‘other’ ivories.

[Bugyotsuji]

This first lot of nine netsuke are:

1. Top left. Signed grotesque female head in Tagua nut ‘vegetable ivory’.

2. Lower left. Two bone Netsuke designed to look like bamboo.

3. Top right. Baleen netsuke, w/marine ivory. Wrote an article for Euronetsuké magazine outlining some theories about this one.

4. Second down on right. Walrus tusk manjū netsuke, two Edo travellers.

5. Mask and Jurojin in spermwhale tooth.

6. Bottom right. Two narwhal ‘ikkakuju’ or ‘unikooru’ slice ‘senbei’ netsuke. One is cut away, grated for medicinal purposes(?). The other has a silver central fitment with ‘kugi nuki’ kamon on front, and ring attachment at back.

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Stag antler.
Finally, various stag antler netsuke examples. (Closer shots possible. Please feel free to add your own antler pieces.)

 

Top row from left:

1. Pomander containing something fragrant, but also resembles an upright brazier(?)

2. Sho upright flute, alleged origin of the Western pipe organ.

3. Three examples of Obi-Hasami netsuke, to clip behind the obi sash of standard width. The middle one is Bakumatsu Edo work, signed.

The second row are sukashi manjū style netsuke, with an unworked antler base on the right for comparison. No.1 and 3 are carved where the antler bifurcates.

Third row.

Mushrooms, stone pedestal, katchū Haramaki dō cuirass, and daikon root with leaves.

Bottom row.

Silk seal, head, with quality control hole and personalized seal underneath.

Well-aged Shishi with ball. (Stomach?)

Chinese sage with peach.

Ama diving girl with small sickle.

 

 

[Matsunoki]

Again many charming and unusual subjects Piers. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Hoping that anyone new to Netsuke here may get some idea of the variety there really was out there, throughout the Edo period and across all social strata.

[Bugyotsuji]

On 7/18/2025 at 9:24 PM, Bugyotsuji said:

3. Chased brass netsuke which opens to contain dry tinder. The sagemono strings also acted to keep the top on firmly. Sometimes called Gamaho-ire, because one of the best forms of tinder was the fluff from the 穂 heads of 蒲 bulrushes or reed mace.

蒲の穂入れ

Out walking yesterday and saw some bulrushes. The heads explode into a fluffy kind of cotton wool. Actually they were probably not the only sort of tinder used for starting fires.

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Wooden, or wood Netsuke.

 

Many of my good wood netsuke took wing, but I still have a few left. If anyone wishes to post, please do so.

 

In the meantime I'll fish some out and post photos, in order to keep the thread rolling. 

[Matsunoki]

5 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

If anyone wishes to post, please do so.

I wish I could Piers but mine all scampered off. Tigers, rats, South-sea Islanders, ONI (often pursued by Shoki) and the Toads all hopped away. ☹️ They left to keep all the ivory ones company - as demanded by the buyer☹️☹️

Many vacancies exist🙂

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, we could go back into our photo archives and find interesting things that long ago went their merry way.

After reading your post, Colin, I discovered this for example. Although the sukashi Netsuke is solid silver (better than .925 sterling) it had to be described as 'white metal'.

 

And the reverse

 

 

[Matsunoki]

4 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Well, we could go back into our photo archives and find interesting things that long ago went their merry way

Far too painful Piers. In any event I deleted all my netsuke images.

That silver netsuke is beautiful. Don’t often find metal netsuke with lacquer pieces for the obvious reason….damage to the lacquer….but that looks like a proper match-up. Haven’t seen a ShiShi done like the one on the inro. It took me a minute to work it out. Unusual. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Recently I have been sorting through netsuke and making lists of what I have, what I would like to keep, what I should let go of if pressed, what I should keep in one place, and what I might need to split up or move, e.g. take back for a public talk I am giving in Japan in November.

 

While doing this, I thought I should go through the ivory box anyway. A couple of them I showed to someone for input, setting off a debate. The end result is that two of what I thought were ivory have turned out to be stag antler, the material hidden under the carving and staining. There are a couple more that are proving difficult to judge, but just to be on the safe side, those have been popped back in the box.

 

Here are the two clearest examples, which have just been reclassified to stag antler.

 

The first is a basket of sumi charcoal briquettes for the tea ceremony. 3.14 cm wide.

Photos of top, side and bottom.

 

Can you see any giveaway signs?

 

And underneath

 

[Bugyotsuji]

The second is a Manju sukashi Netsuke, (sukashi is often called 'Ryusa' in the Netsuke collecting world), hollow and perforated in all directions, openwork.

The theme seems to be Kikusui, chrysanthemums and river water, the legend of the Kiku-jido, the boy rejected by his lord, but who was forever faithful.

Heavily stained, but under a magnifying glass the material is flecked, not an attribute of the purity of ivory, but more of antler and bone.

Made from an antler seat or base. Relatively small in the hand, width 3.99 cm x height 1.48 cm.

 

From top:

 

Underside:

 

[Matsunoki]

Hi Piers

Without handling them I’d have gone for antler on the Kikusui and Bone on the Charcoal but it’s often very difficult to tell. What swung it on the charcoal?

[Bugyotsuji]

Colin, it was the remaining brown channels from the outside of the frilled antler base. The slight discolouration on the central plug underneath could be either from bone or antler, though.

 

See them in this one too: (sadly no longer mine though)

 

 

 

 

[Matsunoki]

Yes it’s tricky especially as bone was often carved and stained to look like antler! Fiendishly confusing! I guess bone was cheaper and more readily available.

 

[Anthony de Vos]

Hi!

 

Here is my collection of something often labeled as ”Snaphaunce netsuke tinder lighters”. I don’t think they are netsuke in the ortodox way but still they cary that name. What do you think? Netsuke or not?

 

Regards,

 

Anthony

[Anthony de Vos]

Hi!

 

Here is a nice example in more detail.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony

[Bugyotsuji]

Anthony, welcome indeed! What a wonderful and unique collection! Thank you for sharing these.

Each one was surely a Daimyo’s ‘must-have’ latest fashion accessory, a Netsuke with a utilitarian purpose, and a what a great talking point! Were they treasured in a special box, or worn and used as a lighter? I wonder whether there are any written records of their actual usage?

 

That example is not just nice but gorgeous. 
 

[John C]

1 hour ago, Anthony de Vos said:

Here is my collection of something often labeled as ”Snaphaunce netsuke tinder lighters”

Wow, Anthony. I'm jealous. I've been looking for just one example...no wonder I can't find any! 

 

John C.

[Matsunoki]

9 hours ago, Anthony de Vos said:

What do you think? Netsuke or not?

Anthony, amazing collection of very rare things. I’ve never even found a single one!

How did you amass such a treasure trove?

As for whether they are netsuke in the true sense I think it depends on what they are paired with. It would be unlikely to mount these as a netsuke with a fine lacquer inro or delicate pipe etc case for fear of damage. However I’m sure @Bugyotsujiis correct in that fine ones  would have been highly prized by the wealthy possibly worn not as a netsuke but as an item suspended from a robust netsuke. 
Also (imo)the more basic ones would have been carried by hunters, travellers, maybe some farmers….in fact anyone who really needed to start a fire quickly and “easily”.

Have you ever searched for evidence of how they were worn? Not sure where you’d start looking!

 

[Brian]

8 hours ago, John C said:

Wow, Anthony. I'm jealous. I've been looking for just one example...no wonder I can't find any! 

 

John C.

Same here!

[Anthony de Vos]

Hi!

 

Thanks gentlemen for your nice words.

 

Regarding how the collection, which is the largest in the world, come to be, well I had to corner the world market buying everything on it for many years. Most of them are found in Japan.

 

I have some interesting info regarding who invented them and when, but unfortunately not much on how they were worn.

 

I have multiple examples from some models, both in iron and brass, and are willing to sell some to interested people. PM me if interested.

 

I enclose some information that I have regarding the lighters.

 

(The silver walnut mentioned, made by Henry William Dee, is one of 3 known made by him. I am lucky to have one of these three and it's the earliest item known by the silver smith. If I remeber right the stamps indicate that it's made in 1867. It's interesting that Dee managed to use the same button to open the lid as well as working the snaphaunce mechanism itself  compared to the Japanese that has 2 buttons)

 

Regards,

 

Anthony

Info netsuke tinder lighters.pdf