Netsuke: old man seated and holding cowrie shell. His robe elaborately designed and decorated. ••According to the donor's catalog: "Netsuke in ivory of a blind old man, seated and holding a cowrie shell. They are a very beautiful shell and are said to have been used as coinage as far back as the Chou Dynasty and continued in circulation as late as the fourteenth century. Wu Ti of 140 until 87 BC of the Han Dynasty was very active in his regulation of the coinage system and the Chou long preceded him—circa 1136 to 250 BC. The old blind man of our netsuke is in possession of a very superior cowrie and his sensitive fingers of a blind man have been able to recognize the beauty and coinage value of the shell, and he is saying to himself with an accentuating wink, 'I have the Kale!'
Donor:
Estate of Geraldine C. and Kernan Robson
Collection place:
Japan
Culture or time period:
Japanese
Collector:
Geraldine C. Robson
Collection date:
before 1940
Materials:
Ivory (material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Netsukes
Function:
2.2 Personal Adornments and Accoutrements
Accession date:
1968
Context of use:
Toggle to be attached to the end of a cord and thrust through the sash of a kimono for the support of a purse, pouch or lacquer box.
Department:
Asia (except western Russia)
Dimensions:
height 3.6 centimeters
Comment:
donor base/stand marked with catalog number LW 2015-10-29