2025
KAPPA MUSUME
15 images
Usually Kappa are males with a turtle shell and a saucer of water on their heads, the main thing is not to spill it, otherwise the magic will be lost! Kappa are big fans of cucumbers, evil, impudent, they love to measure their strength in Sumo wrestling or just scare a gaping passerby. I already had a couple of netsuke on the Kappa theme. But not all Kappa are evil boys, this time meet a beautiful lady, Onna Kappa 女河童! And no cucumbers! ;) In general, the fashionable turtle shell and the signature saucer of water remind us that this beauty is from the Kappa family. Among the Kappa ladies, one character stands out - Kappa Musume 河童娘. Charming! Kappa turns into a sweet girl for one purpose, to eat something tasty. No treachery, purely gastronomic plans! Feed her once and she will become your constant and very grateful guest, sometimes she will cure you, sometimes she will bring you fish. But if you suspect her of being a Kappa and give her some bottle gourd juice, this lady will disappear into the river depths forever with the thought: "Here we go again!" Such is the drama about betrayal of trust and dislike of pumpkin. Do you like pumpkin? Here is a netsuke depicting Kappa Musume, the very girl from the Japanese legend who is about to turn into a girl and ask for something tasty. Just don't offer her a pumpkin, otherwise you will have to look for it in the nearest river! :) Her look will definitely not leave you indifferent, a little cunning and a drop of river magic. The horn of the African buffalo Zebu after bleaching acquires the beauty of amber, as if the sun is setting and its reflection paints the waves of the river in amber tones. The scales are applied using a special technique. Netsuke height 6.9 cm. Eyes inlaid: mammoth tusk, mother-of-pearl, black horn, amber. Ojime: two carps from the same horn, bleaching and with the same technique of applying scales. Twisted cord. 2025. Available for purchase.
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SNAKE AND FROG
16 images
SNAKE AND FROG Snake and Frog It would seem nothing unusual, but in the Japanese tradition, this couple often appears as part of a cool symbolic triad called Sansukumi (三竦み) - just like rock-paper-scissors, only in Japanese! This multi-layered "kimono" with a deep meaning and its own unique dynamics, the eternal dance of good and evil, opposing forces, where the weakling can unexpectedly fight back. Netsuke, these tiny masterpieces, have become an ideal stage for this motif. Imagine: a whole drama unfolds in such a miniature space! Many netsuke masters took on this "snake-frog" theme with pleasure. It turns out that a snake is not only a dangerous reptile, but also a symbol of wisdom, protection and fertility. And a frog is generally a talisman of luck, wealth and a safe return home. This motif can be understood in different ways: as a banal struggle for survival (who will eat whom), and as the eternal cycle of life and death, and as an allegory of the confrontation between the weak and the strong, and even as a reminder of the inevitability of fate. There may also be hidden irony or even a moral here: like, be careful and don’t mess with those who are bigger than you. It was my first time using black coral for my netsuke, it is a very beautiful raw material, its deep, almost mystical shade (in fact, the color of its internal skeleton varies from black to brown due to the unique elastic protein antipatin) combined with the shimmer of mother-of-pearl and the warm glow of amber in the inlay of the snake's eyes creates a truly mesmerizing effect, like the look of a wise and dangerous creature, and Japanese Urushi lacquers add color accents. I am very grateful to Nikita Strukov for this wonderful gift in the form of a couple of pieces of black coral! The scene with a frog hiding from a snake is a fairly common motif in netsuke, often symbolizing cunning, evasiveness, or even a game of fate, chance - will you be lucky or unlucky? Using amber for the frog and adding Urushi lacquers to bring it to life is a great idea, it makes the frog stand out against the black coral and the translucency of the amber conveys the frog's skin well. And the ojimi (a little thing on a cord) with a frog and two ants is almost a mini-performance! Ants, these little workers, usually symbolize hard work and perseverance. Maybe this whole company will remind someone of an old instructive story that happened a long time ago and will bring on a nostalgic mood. I remembered Basho's haiku: An old pond. A frog jumped into the water. A splash in the silence. I may have read something similar somewhere, but another haiku for "Snake and Frog" came to mind: Silence... The shadow of a snake flashed... There is no frog. The netsuke is 8.9 cm long, a fairly large piece, which allowed me to work out every detail, from the scales of the snake to the webbed feet of the frog. The inlay of the snake's eyes with mother-of-pearl, black horn and amber is not just a decoration, but a way to convey the depth and expressiveness of the look. This netsuke has a dual purpose, it can be used as a fudekake - a netsuke stand for three brushes or as a kiserukake stand for a smoking pipe. The 1.9cm long ojimi, made of fine ebony and decorated with a frog covered in yellow and black Urushi lacquer with the warm glow of gold Nashiji glitter, is another exquisite detail. 2025. Available for purchase.
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