MAKI-E JAPANESE LACQUERED NETSUKE AND INRO

HARE AND MOON

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I want to present You a two-part netsuke, Hare jumping out of a snail shell, using the Maki-e technique on the snail shell there is a spiral of eggshell with hieroglyphs denoting zodiac animals, the Hare jumping out of an endless spiral to become a symbol of the next New Year! On the snail there is also a piece of the Moon with a silver Hare and of course a fan with two running bunnies. Next year is the year of the Hare or Rabbit, the year of family and home comfort, warmth of relationships, love and joy! The sizes of two-part netsuke are 4.8 cm tall, the size of snail shell is 3.5 cm across, the diameter of black wood stand is 5.1 cm across, its thickness is 0.5 cm.

SNAKE AND FROG

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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.

THE WHITE RABBIT

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White Rabbit from Wonderland through the Looking Glass. Reading "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking-Glass" to children, I got the idea of netsuke, the White Rabbit jumping out of Wonderland through the Looking-Glass, and the hole as a portal between these fascinating countries. there is a two-part netsuke, The White Rabbit and the hole transforming into a chessboard from a snail shell. The White Rabbit is carved from a piece of mammoth tusk, the eyes are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, red lacquer for the pupil and pinkish acrylic glass, the length of the Rabbit is 3.6 cm. Urushi, Takamaki-e fan: Kanshitsu, golden Marufun, maximum shell size 3.8 cm. Netsuke stand - ebony disk with the image of the Moon - silver Hiramefun and green clover leaves - Kanshitsu, diameter - 5.2 cm, thickness 0.5 cm. 2022. Available for purchase.

INRO (FROM CREATION OF SHAPE TO TAKAMAKI-E)

20 images

For many years admiring Inro, considering various techniques of Maki-e, I really wanted to touch this amazing form of art. Books, experiments, purchases of various Urushi varnishes, filter papers, pigments, various polishes, powders of gold and silver and a great desire to create a complete set: Inro, Manju, ojimi and weave a cord. Making Inro is a very laborious process, many thin layers, constant grinding, polishing, a lot of patience and .... the joy of creation! 2020. Moldova, private collection.

LACQUERED MANJU NETSUKE

11 albums

LACQUERED OKIMONO

3 albums

SNAILS

5 albums