netsuke
- Museum number
- F.676
- Description
-
Netsuke. Boar and snake. Made of wood, with eyes inlaid in dark horn. Signed.
- Production date
- Mid 19thC
- Dimensions
-
Width: 4.50 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
-
Boar and snake
Signed Sukenaga
Wood, 1800s
(Label copy, 2017)
-
In Japan the boar occupies the last position among the twelve animals of the zodiac cycle. In China the pig is traditionally assigned this last position, but as the pig is not a species native to Japan the indigenous boar took its place. The boar rushes headlong into attack, and is therefore regarded as a symbol of courage that is occasionally reckless. The snake is exactly six animals apart from the boar in the twelve-year animal cycle, and the two were therefore considered companions. Wearing a netsuke that featured paired zodiac animals was believed to combine the strengths of the animals and thereby enhance good luck. (NT 2015)
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2013 - , BM Japanese Galleries, ‘Japan from Prehistory to the Present’.
- Acquisition date
- 1897
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- F.676
