inro, netsuke, ojime, Ogawa Haritsu

Teaching Gallery Label: "The Tea Ceremony," Apr-2014, Kris Imants Ercums Ritsuo used his skill to inlay lacquer with ceramics, mother-of-pearl, and colored beads on the front and back of this inro. Because traditional Japanese gard lacked pockets, small objects were often placed inside inro, which were suspended from the obi or sash. The detailed carving on the accompanying ivory netsuke of an elephant and three men is a charming illustration of the parable of the three blind men who, each touching a single part of the large animal, describe it in completely different terms. Archive Label 2003: The elephant was especially popular in the 18th and 19th centuries in Japanese art. Exoticism was in style and elephants, often turned out in rich decorative trappings and harnesses, inspired lacquer artists to virtuosic proportions. Ritsuo used his skill to inlay lacquer, ceramics, mother-of-pearl, and colored beads on the front and around the curve to the back of this inro-. He further enlivened the surface by applying gold lacquer to some of the raised surfaces. Detailed carving on the accompanying ivory netsuke of an elephant and three men is a charming illustration of the parable of the three blind men who, each touching a single part of the large animal, describe it in completely different terms.