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Inro decorated with a court lady, ojime, and netsuke

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Inro decorated with a court lady, ojime, and netsuke

19th century

Inro are containers for small personal items such as seals and herbal medicines. Japanese men of the Edo period (1603–1868) wore them hanging on the obi (sash) of their kimono. The small bead called ojime tightens the inro’s cord. Netsuke, intricately carved toggles, were attached at the end of the cord to prevent the inro from slipping through the obi. By the eighteenth century, both inro and netsuke had become more elaborate and decorative and were commissioned by merchants, samurai, and others who could afford them.
Gold and lacquer
.a H.: 3 5/8 in.
.a W.: 1 7/8 in.
.a D.: 1 1/16 in.
.b Diam.: 1 3/8 in.
Duncan MacTavish Fuller Memorial Collection
35.106
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
location
Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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