netsuke
- Museum number
- F.809
- Description
-
Netsuke. Racoon dog dressed as a priest. Made of stag antler. Signed.
- Production date
- 1870s
- Dimensions
-
Width: 4 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
-
Badger dressed as a priest
Signed by Masayuki
Stag antler, 1800s
(Label copy, 2017)
-
The racoon dog or tanuki appears in various Japanese folklores as one of the most mischievous animals. With its ability to shape shift, the tanuki often transforms itself into human form or inanimate objects in order to play tricks on people. Here a tanuki, wearing a priest's robe, dozes while holding a Buddhist wooden gong (J. mokugyo) under its clothing, with the stick clutched to its breast. When we examine the underside, we recognize a crying face, with two cord holes forming a nose and open mouth. (NT 2015)
- Location
- On display (G92/dc1)
- Exhibition history
-
2013 - , BM Japanese Galleries, ‘Japan from Prehistory to the Present’
- Acquisition date
- 1897
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- F.809
