Image

Ryuryukyo Shinsai

Turtle Netsuke and Cloth, 1822

Description

Maker

Title

Turtle Netsuke and Cloth

Year

1822

Medium

Polychrome woodblock print with metallic embellishment

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Techniques

Supports

Dimensions

Length: 19.4 cm (7 5/8 inches)

Place

Japan

Type

Credit

Gift of George Pierce Metcalf

Object Number

56.039.22

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Samurai At Leisure

November 26, 2019 - May 24, 2020

This still-life depicts objects commonly found in affluent Japanese homes in the 1700s. Here a few volumes of books, a stenciled cloth, and a potted plant are grouped with a lacquered and painted ornamental box (inrō) attached to a carved turtle toggle (netsuke).

Samurai were encouraged to pursue literary studies and civilian arts, and many engaged in connoisseurial activities, collecting finely carved inrō and netsuke as well as ornately decorated blue and white porcelain. These surimono prints, produced on thick paper using complex techniques, were most conducive for conveying
the textures of these treasured objects.

Marking the Occasion

February 3 - May 28, 2006

The netsuke (sash toggle) in the shape of a turtle in the foreground conveys a wish for long life, while the horse imprinted on the cloth below identifies this surimono as a New Year’s greeting probably made for the year of the horse, 1822.

Marking the Occasion

September 15 - December 3, 2000

The netsuke (sash toggle) in the shape of a turtle in the foreground conveys a wish for long life, while the horse imprinted on the cloth below identifies this surimono as a New Year’s greeting probably made for a year of the horse. Other prints in the “horse” group exhibited here have been tentatively dated to 1822, but in this case Shinsai’s death date might point to the previous horse year of 1810.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Turtle Netsuke and Cloth with the accession number of 56.039.22. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.