NETSUKE MUSEUM COLLECTION

TREASURED JAPANESE MINIATURE SCULPTURE

Award-winning Design Master Associates, Inc. is world renowned for producing the highest quality museum reproductions. DesignMasters™ now partners with the British Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art, and the Peabody Essex Museum to bring a selection of their extensive netsuke collections to the hands of the discerning collector.

HISTORY OF NETSUKE

Netsuke (ne –root and tsuke – to fasten) or toggles have captured the imagination of collectors for centuries. Traditional Japanese garments, kimonos, lacked pockets. Women carried items in their sleeves or tucked into a fold within the wide obi (sash or belt). Men tied a small sack to a cord and pulled the cord up under the obi where it would be kept from slipping by a netsuke made of stone, gourd, or root. A practical invention that endured over 300 years, netsuke evolved into a unique form of miniature sculpture that could be held in the palm of the hand. Subjects varied widely, including deities, legendary heroes, and animals.

MUSEUM AFFILIATES

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, one of New England’s largest museums, offers visitors a dynamic experience of art and culture amidst its renowned collections of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, African, Oceanic, Indian, American, and miniature art. The originals of the netsuke are in the Japanese art collection of the Peabody Essex Museum.

The British Museum’s (BM) fine netsuke collection owes its existence largely to the gifts and bequests of benefactors of whom Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, Mrs. H. Seymour Trower, James Hilton, Oscar Raphael, and Mrs. Helen Epstein are the most important.

San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) , San Diego County’s first and largest institution, provides access to original art works of the highest caliber and is thus the community’s primary resource for enjoying and learning about art. The collection of Asian art numbers over 4,000 objects and is, in fact, the largest area of the Museum’s holdings. These include an extensive collection of unique netsuke.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the premier encyclopedic visual arts museum in the Western United States. The only museum building solely devoted to Japanese art outside of Japan. The Pavilion for Japanese Art at LACMA, is dedicated to the display and study of Japanese art. It includes one of the foremost public collections of netsuke in the world, the Raymond and Frances Bushell Collection.

PACKAGING

The best things come in small packages! Beautifully wrapped, each individual netsuke is ready to present as a thoughtful & impressive gift. Much as the obi encircled the waist, a simple but elegant black box is encircled with a colorful sleeve bearing a calligraphic image and short history of the netsuke.