Netsuke in the Form of a Reclining Dog

Netsuke in the Form of a Reclining Dog is held by Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe. Museum description: The ivory netsuke is carved in the form of a reclining dog.

Around its neck it wears a collar with a pendant. Dogs with a pug nose and short ears folded forward were often carved in Kyōto. Like all fully sculpted pieces, this example belongs to the type known as »katabori-netsuke«. A »netsuke« (pronounced: netske) is a toggle with two cord holes. It was loosely attached to the Japanese obi (= belt) as a counterweight to a so-called »inro« and was thus part of the traditional Japanese clothing associated with the kimono.

In the corresponding pouch, the inro, wealthy merchants, artists, and craftsmen carried their seal, ink pad, and later also their medicine. In their design, netsuke frequently make reference to Japanese poetry and mythology. The almost inexhaustible The museum record gives measurements Höhe: 2.9 cm, Breite: 3.75 cm, Tiefe: 2.1 cm (Gesamt) [height: 2.9 cm, width: 3.75 cm, depth: 2.1 cm (overall)]. These details come from the holding museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.