" Netsuke: Fantasy and Reality in Japanese Miniature Sculpture "
At the Museum of Fine Arts through March 10.

It’s not my usual practice when entering a new art show to bow to the pieces on display. Sometimes in the presence of Vermeers. Pottery I usually hug (maybe it’s better if you don’t ask). But faced with the large glass case holding exquisite miniature sculptures from Japan, I look around for a security person; finding none, I remove my shoes and bow before proceeding up the steps to the MFA’s temple of netsuke.

These miniatures first appeared in Japan about 1700, little wood or ivory toggles by which you could suspend a purse or medicine container or tobacco pouch from the obi of your kimono. They evolved from the simpler ivory rings that had come into being about a century earlier, and they were as much a fashion statement as a practical necessity, since there’s no reason you couldn’t simply knot the strings of your purse or pouch around the obi. The degree to which some netsuke have been lovingly handled suggests they were played with as much as worn — guest curator (and formerly of the Victoria & Albert Museum) Joe Earle calls them " executive toys. " The earliest examples come mostly from the western cities of Osaka and Kyoto; Earle hypothesizes that these works were China-influenced and appealed " to the escapist instincts of a small segment of the Osaka elite whose dangerous, even subversive curiosity about the world beyond Japan was sublimated into small, inconspicuous artifacts. " The classic style of the 18th century deteriorated into baroque extravagance in the 19th; when, after 1860, Japanese men began to abandon traditional dress, the need for netsuke disappeared, though they were still sought by collectors.

The MFA owns more than 1300 examples of this art, and some 140 of them appear in " Netsuke: Fantasy and Reality in Japanese Miniature Sculpture. " The show is reverently presented in a temple-like setting: after climbing a step or two, you find yourself in front of a long glass case where the pieces are divided into categories: " Scenes of Daily Life, " Ghosts & Monsters, " Popular Subjects, " " Marine Life, " " Plants, Insects, and Reptiles, " and " Toggles. " What’s perplexing is that these aren’t quite the same categories promised by the press releases and actualized in the handsome if pricy catalogue from MFA Publications (356 pages, $85), where we find " Ijin: People of Difference " and " Zodiac Animals. " It’s not a major annoyance, but this isn’t the first time (I’m thinking of the " Faces " Van Gogh blockbuster from last year) a catalogue and its show haven’t been on the same page at the MFA.

" Fantasy and Reality " nonetheless gets off on the right foot by displaying a kimono and obi with matching netsuke, ojime (a tightening bead), and inro (a medicine container). The inro depicts a hare among rushes; in the catalogue Earle cites " the very ancient traditional belief that hares live on the moon, using the rushes to polish the moon’s face and maintain its pristine brilliance. " The ojime is carved in the shape of a crouching hare; the netsuke is yet another hare, this one with some loquat fruit.

" Scenes of Daily Life " is populated mostly by people: weightlifters, sumo wrestlers, monkey trainers, contortionists, Dutchmen, kagonuke (acrobats who do " lightweight " tricks — think Cirque du Soleil). " Ghosts & Monsters " has the most exotic creatures: rain dragons, baku (thought to devour bad dreams), kirin (will step on neither plant nor insect, and leaves no footprint), shishi (can travel 30 leagues in a day). " Popular Subjects " include an eagle clutching a monkey, a boar sleeping on autumn plants, and a rat licking its tail; " Marine Life " is dominated by octopi (one is even riding a horse); snakes, snails, lizards, cicadas, and a magnolia-and-moon turn up in " Plants, Insects, and Reptiles. " " Toggles " (aren’t these all toggles?) is a catch-all of mostly Chinese netsuke. What they all have in common is that they’re sweet-natured — they make the outside world seem less forbidding. The fabulous monsters look like friendly Pekinese dogs; even the rats are cute.

The MFA gets an " A " for presentation: pull-up boards illustrate and identify each piece; a wall display shows the raw materials (mammoth ivory, boar tusk, boxwood, ebony), the dyes (alder cones and pine soot) and polishing agents, and the chisels (15 different kinds in one set). There are also a half-dozen reproductions you can handle; and the gift shop (next to the Customer Service counter) has a small selection. If your office attire doesn’t include an obi, just follow Japanese tradition and put one on your desk.

Issue Date: December 6-13, 2001

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