Dressed to impress: netsuke and Japanese men’s fashion

Fascinating little exhibition at the British Museum looking a Japanese men’s fashion and particularly the role played by netsuke.

Although I had seen netsuke on the Antiques Roadshow I hadn’t really thought about how they were used so it was really interesting to see a man’s costume and how the netsuke acted as a break to shop the hanging personal objects from falling down.

I loved the idea that you chose the netsuke you wore by your mood, the season or depending on who you were meeting. The commentary likened this to the was a modern western man might choose his tie and cufflinks.

There were some nice examples particularly a nice ceramic netsuke of a boy holding a lion masque.

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