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.