INRO AND NETSUKE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 107, 22 May 1937, Page 10

INRO AND NETSUKE

Treasures from Japan in the Hawke's Bay Museum In ancient times the Japanese were accustoined to carry about with. theiu, a seal wi-icli, with. tho necessary vcrmillion dnk, ,was piacod in. a smail box oall inro. Thp derivation of this word is from in, a' seai, and ro, a box. Tho xnro.was suspended frqm the girdle by a 'cofd tho end of which. was prevented from slipping by a ' toggie or button, the netsuKe. In. the course of the conturies the funcfcion of tho inro became modified and lt-was nsed for the transport of iuedicaments — pills, po'wders, and aromatie pastes — a sort of little portable medicine chest. Th'e boxes were forinod of several compartments litting one upon another, cach formiug the nd of the one below. The compartments were held together by a cord which passod through a ring or channel on eaeh side and was attachod at its free end to tho netsuk. Inro date back to about 1600, these carjy ones boing mainly of lacquer. During tho 17th ccntury thero were a number of distinguishcd artists xyhose productions are particularly dcsirable to collectors. The most divorse materials were used in the construction of inro — glass, xock-mystal, ivory, bamboo, papier maehe and even a sort of spongy fungus calied reishi. The surface wias ornamented with birds, flowers, iishes and insects in endless varioty, carriod out.in iacqucr, gold or mother-of-pear]. Netsuke probably in the firgt place were made of wood (ne, root; tsuke, to attach). In the course of time tho love of ornamentation inhercnt in the Japanese led to the embellishment of the simple pieco of material with carving. Soon other materials such as horn, ivory, stone, etc., would be used, all inanner of natural objects being imitated, such as snails, birds, and mice. Quaintly-carved human iigures wofo favourite subjeetsj one of the most common was the Buddhist patriarch Dharma, who is reputcd to have meditatcd for nine years witliout moving. Inro and netsuke carved by acknoAvlcdged masters are very costly, aud there are many modcrn forgeries. Thero are at present in the Hawke's | Bay museum at Napier a collection of netsuke and a good samplo of an inro i'rora tho Graocen Black Collection. (Contributed by tho H.B. Musoum.)