Still More Vintage Slices
Here are still more vintage photos of Japan and cultural and historical artifacts from my collection. There are LOTS of photos, and some are slow to load, so please be patient:
Meiji-period (1868-1912) ivory ojime (bead) used to pull taut the strings of an inro (small decorative box used to hold valuables), thus keeping the inro securely closed. Kimono don't have pockets, so inro were used as the equivalent of a purse or wallet. This skull, about the size of a U.S. 10-cent piece, reflects the basic Buddhist theme of impermanence. I purchased it at a wonderful antiques store in Kyoto adjacent to one of the gates of Daitoku-ji, one of the most important Zen temples in the city. Below is a modern wooden netsuke (2.5 inches tall) in the shape of a monkey dressed as a priest and carrying a bo (staff). Netsuke were used as toggles to secure inro to the obi (kimono belt). I'm told that ivory wasn't imported on a large scale into Japan until the Meiji period, so ivory handicrafts such as this ojime often date from no earlier than about 1868. Before that time, ojime and netsuke commonly were made of wood.
Monkeys have special significance to me. I was born in 1962 (a Tiger year), but at about 4:15 in the afternoon, during the Hours of the Monkey. (The Asian zodiac is divided into 12 animal signs. Furthermore, each two-hour period of the 24-hour day is assigned one of these animal signs.)
Here's a modern bronze casting (3 inches tall) of a traditional rendition of a tiger. True, it doesn't look very much like a tiger -- but the Japanese artisans who crafted these fanciful creatures long ago had never seen a real tiger in the flesh, and thus had to use their imagination. I purchased this proud cat at Kiyosumi-dera, a very important temple in southern Chiba Prefecture linked to Nichiren Dai-shonin (St. Nichiren), founder of the major Buddhist denomination that bears his name.
What's a tiger in the hand worth? Modern boxwood netsuke.
Ivory netsuke, most likely a fairly recent Chinese carving using fossil (mammoth) ivory. This netsuke depicts a classic character from Japanese folklore, the beautiful woman who can transform herself into a fearsome demon. The face consists of a bead that rotates to show two countenances, a smiling one and a snarling one. About 2 inches tall. One of the giveaways that this is likely a recent piece is that the feet and hands are rather crudely carved, and the bottom of the piece appears rough-hewn. A genuine ivory Japanese netsuke would exhibit much finer craftsmanship in those regards. Still, it's a neat piece and a good companion piece for the ojime skull shown above, which is a genuine piece from the 19th century.
Hanging scroll from the 1930s or '40s picturing Kanzan and Jittoku, two legendary figures from Zen Buddhism.
Two wonderful photographs by the popular Meiji-era photographer Tamamura Kozaburo (1856-1923?). Above is a captivating view of Mt. Fuji from the village of Iwabuchi, circa 1897. How'd you like to wake up to this view outside your window every morning? At right is a studio portrait of two women gathering oysters, also taken around 1897. Tamamura apprenticed with Kanemaru Genzo in Tokyo, where he set up his own studio in 1874. He soon relocated to Yokohama, where his photography studio prospered. He is well-known for his many commercial assignments related to Japanese industries and for providing the photographs for Capt. Frank Brinkley's multivolume work "Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese" (1897). Tamamura's studio was destroyed Sept. 1, 1923, by the Great Kanto Earthquake, which flattened Tokyo and the surrounding area and killed more than 105,000 people.
View of Nakasendo along the Kiso River, by Kimbei Kusakabe, c.1890s
The Nakasendo was one of two feudal-era roads connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto. Unlike the coastal Tokaido (East Sea Road), the Nakasendo traveled inland, hence its name, which means "Road through the Middle of the Moutains" or "Road through the Central Mountains." The most famous section of the Nakasendo is the stretch between the towns of Magome and Tsumago in the Kiso Valley, made famous by the 19th century writer Shimazaki Toson, who chronicled the effects of the Meiji Restoration on the valley in his landmark novel "Yoake Mae" ("Before the Dawn"). This section of the road can still be traveled comfortably by foot, and Tsumago has preserved its traditional architecture. The haiku poet Basho also traveled along the Nakasendo. (This information adapted from Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, with gratitude.)
Got something to sell (or trade) or a comment to share? E-mail me!