Netsuke with wooden capsule

Netsuke with wooden capsule is held by Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe. Museum description: The netsuke features a capsule and a bowl made of turned deciduous wood, as well as a plate made of bone.

The picture surface is inlaid with gold leaf or gold dust and shows a peony blossom in the background, in front of which a crab is presented. This piece probably belongs to the type of so-called "kagamibuta-netsuke", although unlike other examples from the Karlsruhe collection (inv. no. A 8711 and inv. no. A 8713) it does not have a hole for cord passage. A "netsuke" (pronounced: netske) is a toggle with two holes for the cord passage.

It was loosely attached to the Japanese obi (= belt) as a counterpart to a so-called "inro" and was thus part of the traditional Japanese clothing associated with the kimono. In the accompanying pouch, the inro, wealthy merchants, artists and craftsmen carried their seal, their stamping ink The museum record gives measurements diameter: 4.0 cm, depth: 1.05 cm. 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.