ABSTRACT
The netsuke is a toggle affixed by a cord to a purse, tobacco-pouch, pipe-case, inro, or to anything which a man may desire to suspend from his girdle, its purpose being to prevent the suspended article from falling. Netsuke are made of wood, lacquered wood, bamboo, elephant or walrus ivory, boars’ tusks, deer horns, walnut or other shells sea-pine, jade, metal, porcelain, amber, onyx, coral, crystal, and other material. Originally, an inro was pro-bably a box with divisions for seal, ink pad and was not a neces-sary part of a gentleman’s attire until later times when it was attached by a silk cord to a netsuke and hung through the wearer’s sash. The chief stimulus to the vogue of the ukiyoye, beginning about 1785, came through the stage and its heroes—and to the popularity of the drama and of the actors is due the whole development of Japanese color prints.
