根付 Netsuke Hands On Up Close and Digital
Yoshida Sosai (1865-1944), netsuke: Tōbōsaku Sen’nin, about 1900, ivory, dye, ink, lacquer, 5.4 x 2.6 x 2.5 cm. MMFA, purchase, Dr. Stephen Fichman Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Tucked away in the Stephan Crétier and Stéphany Maillery Wing for the Arts of One World is a collection of tiny, exquisitely detailed Japanese objects, called netsuke. These figurines that fit in the palm of your hand carry a rich, though little-known, history. Thanks to the digital experience 根付 Netsuke Hands On, the public can now discover these objects’ hidden secrets.
Laura Vigo
Lindsay Corbett
Be sure to have your smartphone and earphones with you on your next visit to the Museum, so you can explore the MMFA’s netsuke collection in a completely new and stimulating way. Accessible via a QR code next to the exhibited artworks, 根付 Netsuke Hands On playfully seeks to replicate the lost pleasure of tactile exploration, while respecting the restrictions around touching objects on display in our museums. The digital experience uses 3D modelling to allow users to “manipulate” the objects, and see them up close from angles that would normally be hidden from view. In addition, its audio content takes the user beneath the surface of the netsuke to reveal their layered histories and meanings.
Netsuke: a brief history
Netsuke are miniature sculptures that first appeared in the Edo period (1615-1868) as fashion accessories worn around men’s belts. Beyond their practical purposes, netsuke served to communicate information, such as the social standing of the wearer, which was expressed in the particular symbolism, materials and designs contained in these creations. When Japanese trade with the West resumed in 1853, this sparked a curiosity for Japanese visual and material culture that burgeoned into a full-scale fervour that pervaded Europe and North America, dubbed Japonisme. The compact size and affordability of netsuke facilitated their rapid consumption and circulation on the transnational market, and they were amassed in large numbers.
Mitsusada, netsuke: quail with a stalk of millet in its beak, about 1870, ivory, inlays, 3.1 x 3.4 x 2.9 cm. MMFA, purchase, Dr. Stephen Fichman Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Anraku, netsuke: the poetess Ono no Komachi, about 1840, ivory, dye, ink, 3.6 x 3.7 x 2.8 cm. MMFA, purchase, Dr. Stephen Fichman Fund. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Kaigyokusai Masatsugu (1813-1892), netsuke: seated adult monkey with sleeping young monkey, late 19th c., ivory, ink, 2.8 x 3.1 x 3.5 cm. MMFA, purchase, Dr. Stephen Fichman Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Yoshitomo, netsuke: hare eating loquat leaves, about 1790, ivory, inlays, 3 x 4.5 x 2.6 cm. MMFA, purchase, Dr. Stephen Fichman Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
For the early Western collectors, these tiny sculptures carved in the round that could be handled in the palm of their hands were the sum of Japanese culture. Their unusual materials, small dimensions and intricate decoration were the material remnants that brought a distant Japan home to them.
Masasada, netsuke: fisherman struggling with an octopus, about 1880, ivory, paint, 2.4 x 2.8 x 3.7 cm. MMFA, purchase, Dr. Stephen Fichman Fund. Video MMFA
The Museum’s collection of netsuke
The MMFA’s collection of Asian art was built up through important private donations over the course of the first half of the 20th century. As such, it is reflective of a particular time and of the tastes of a small number of local collectors who had a penchant for small exotic objects. The Museum has a striking collection of netsuke, which it owes in large part to a donation from Dr. Stephen Fichman. Visitors can admire the ensemble in person in its permanent display in the Asian art galleries of the Wing for the Arts of One World.
From left to right: Laura Vigo, Curator of Asian Art at the MMFA; Jo-Anne Duchesne, Director General of the MMFA Foundation; Dr. Stephen Fichman; Mary-Dailey Desmarais, Chief Curator of the MMFA; and Stéphane Aquin, Director of the MMFA. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
About the digital experience
The tactile experience of netsuke that made them so irresistible to collect is nearly impossible to replicate in a museum context, where objects are often kept out of reach to anyone but museum professionals. The digital experience seeks to bring netsuke out of the display case, so to speak. Its 3D modelling was achieved through photogrammetry, a technique that precisely defines an object’s dimensions and volume by means of photographic images. It allows the user to rotate the object in different directions and to zoom in to observe intricate details that would otherwise be indiscernible to the naked eye. As such, it gives the user the impression of engaging with these figurines in close detail and even “handling” them, thus, in some sense, rekindling the awe experienced by the 19th-century collector.
Netsuke Hands On offers two exploration modes: you can either simply “play” with the 3D renderings of the netsuke, or you can follow a more structured mixed-media storytelling that incorporates 3D views of the object into an audio essay. The essay traces the movement of the featured netsuke, from their production in Edo Japan to their eventual musealization.
These stories are not merely linear accounts of the cultural production trail from Point A to Point B. Instead, they bring to light fascinating details about the social signifiers, materiality, wider cultural influences, modes of production, iconographies and mythologies surrounding each netsuke. Users can follow the story from beginning to end or jump in at a chapter that piques their interest.
A tool for unravelling the multifaceted nature of netsuke
Netsuke tap into a complex web of cultural and artistic paradigms. The digital experience enables the public to grasp the significance of these objects in all their complexity. Such is the case with the netsuke featuring a map of Japan, made by Ichimuken Nanka, a master kabori (hairline engraving) carver. Nanka specialized in the production of manjū netsuke, known for their round, smooth shape, and he produced many similarly illustrated netsuke. Maps may have been a coveted subject, due to the increased interest in travel during the Edo period, especially along the famous Tokaido Road.
Nanka, netsuke: two part manjū with engraving of a map of Japan, 1820-1830, ivory, ink. 1.6 cm (h.); 3.4 cm (diam.). MMFA, purchase, Dr. Stephen Fichman Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Nanka’s map features an inscription that reads: “Authentic Map of Great Japan in the Realm of the Buddha,” which signals a close intertwinement between Buddhist spirituality, landscape and travel. Nanka’s netsuke therefore reflects entrenched Japanese traditions surrounding mapmaking and religious pilgrimage.
Nanka, netsuke: two part manjū with engraving of a map of Japan, 1820-1830, ivory, ink. 1.6 cm (h.); 3.4 cm (diam.). MMFA, purchase, Dr. Stephen Fichman Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
But the story does not end there. Given that netsuke fulfilled Westerners’ desires to claim a little piece of Japan, Nanka’s map netsuke would have been particularly prized, as it would have allowed collectors to contain all of Japan in the palm of their hands. This brief reflection on Nanka’s netsuke gives us a sense of how intricately multifaceted these tiny sculptures are in the questions they raise about style, materiality, technique, iconography and authorship, not to mention travel and pilgrimage, portability, transnational trade and collecting interests.
Museums are beginning to think about objects differently and embrace semiotic fluidity and in-betweenness, and 根付 Netsuke Hands On is an excellent tool to facilitate this aim. It brings objects to life and, in a way that is highly engaging and accessible, gives the public insight into how cultural objects can transform in meaning, function and value across time and space as well as into the complex entanglements associated with these works of art.
Credits and acknowledgements
根付 Netsuke Hands On was co-created and co-developed by the Yellow House Innovation Lab and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. This initiative was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of Quebec and Tourisme Montréal. The Museum thanks Dr. Stephen Fichman for his commitment as well as the donors who responded to his appeal for generosity.
