Keeping Food Fresh

 

QUESTION: When I was a youngster, my family had an ice box in the kitchen. I remember when we first got it. My grandmother was in awe and my mother was overjoyed, for she could now keep food fresh for up to a week. Before that, she had to go to the grocers just about every day. Recently, I saw a beautifully restored old ice box at an antique show. Can you tell me who invented this food cold storage unit and when it first appeared in homes?

ANSWER: Before the mid 19th century, people depended on holes in the ground and spring houses to keep food cold. For the most part, people smoked meats and fish to keep them longer.

The traditional ice box dates back to the days of ice harvesting, which peaked between the 1850s and the 1930s, when manufacturers introduced the gas-powered refrigerator into American homes. However, the ice box became such a part of American culture that older people often refer to their refrigerators as ice boxes. But the real story of the ice box began in 1802.

Back then, an American farmer and cabinetmaker, Thomas Moore, needed to figure out a way to get his butter to market in solid chunks rather than a melted mass. He experimented with various methods until he came up with an ingenious solution—the ice box. His first design consisted of an oval cedar tub with a tin container fitted inside with ice between them, all wrapped in rabbit fur to insulate the device. Later versions included hollow walls that were lined with tin or zinc and packed with various insulating materials such as cork, sawdust, straw or seaweed. He placed a large block of ice in a tray near the top, so cold air could circulate down and around the tin storage compartment. Moore used his device to transport butter from his home to the Georgetown markets, allowing him to sell firm, brick butter instead of soft, melted tubs like his fellow vendors.

By 1830, Moore refined his design by making a wooden cabinet, similar to a large dresser, of hardwoods such as oak or walnut. As with his earlier versions, he lined the cabinet with zinc or tin, packed with insulating materials such as straw, flax, sawdust, cork, mineral wool, or charcoal. He tried each material to see which worked best, eventually settling on zinc.

Moore added several storage compartments inside the cabinet, with doors to each, including the ice compartment. He placed a drainage hole in it so that melted water, collected in a tray, could be emptied daily. Other ice box makers added spigots for draining the ice water.

The user had to replenish the melted ice, normally by obtaining new ice from an iceman, who delivered it by horse and wagon. The design of the ice box allowed perishable foods to be stored longer than before and without the need for lengthy preservation processes such as canning, drying, or smoking. Refrigerating perishables also had the added benefit of not altering the taste of what was preserved.

Until the late 1820s, cabinetmakers made ice boxes to order. But by the 1840s, various companies appeared including Sears & Roebuck, The Baldwin Refrigerator Company, and the Ranney Refrigerator Company began to mass produce ice boxes. Historians consider D. Eddy & Son of Boston to be the first company to produce ice boxes in large quantities. During this time, many Americans desired big ice boxes. Such companies like the Boston Scientific Refrigerator Company, introduced ice boxes which could hold up to 50 lbs of ice. A survey of New York City residents in 1907 found that 81 percent of the families surveyed owned some form of ice box.

Depending on the condition, an antique wooden ice box can be worth a lot of money. Many restored ice boxes now sell for as much as $2,000 to $3,000. It’s even possible to buy a restored antique wooden ice box that has been converted into a refrigerator or wine cooler with modern refrigeration equipment.

The usability of an antique ice box determines its actual market value The ice box’s age, size, condition, material, authenticity and provenance all contribute to its value.

Even a properly restored or professionally refinished ice box can be a good buy. While a restored or refinished model can sell for as little as $2,000, extremely rare ice boxes in good condition can cost as much as $10,000.

With those prices, it’s a good idea to make sure an ice box is worth it. Early ice boxes didn’t feature top-quality structure, so quality will vary. It’s important to check the wooden surface closely to detect signs of deterioration, such as visible cracks, chips, scratches, and warps. All of these add to the originality of the ice box. Reproductions are common, and many get sold as antiques.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "In the Good Ole Summertime" in the 2024 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

The Charm of Russian Nesting Dolls

 

QUESTION: My introduction to Russian nesting dolls occurred on a trip to Russia. Vendors selling wooden dolls in a variety of sizes and themes seemed to be everywhere. I purchased several sets of dolls and would perhaps like to collect them. When and where did they originate? Are they valuable? And are there different kinds?

ANSWER: Those are all good questions. First, the correct name for your Russian nesting dolls is Matryoshka dolls. And while they’re commonly associated with Russia, they didn’t originate there. 

A professional artist and folk crafts painter named Sergei Malyutin, who worked on the Abramtsevo estate of Savva I. Mamontovas, as a Russian industrialist, made the first sketches of a nesting doll based on a nesting toy featuring the Seven Gods of Fortune  his wife brought home from a visit to Honshu, Japan, in the latter part of the 19th century. However, the Japanese say that it was a Russian monk who first brought the idea of making nesting dolls to Japan.

 Zvyozdochkin carved the first Russian nested doll set in 1890 at the Children's Education Workshop, created to make and sell children’s toys. Mamontov's brother, Anatoly Ivanovich created the Children's Education Workshop to make and sell children's toys. Malyutin painted the doll set which consisted of eight dolls—the outermost of which was a mother dressed in a kerchief and work apron holding a red-combed rooster. The inner dolls were her children, girls and a boy, and the innermost a baby. Each carried items of Russian peasant life—a basket, a sickle, a bowl of porridge, a broom, and a younger sibling in tow. Nestled in the center was a baby swaddled in a patchwork quilt. The toy workshop named her Matryoshka, or “little mother.” When the Children's Education Workshop closed in the late 1890s, the tradition of the matryoshka dolls relocated to Sergiyev Posad, the Russian city known as a toy-making center since the 14th century.

 intended his doll to depict a round-faced peasant girl with beaming eyes. He dressed her in a sarafan—a floor-length traditional Russian peasant jumper dress held up by two straps—and gave her carefully styled slicked-down hair largely hidden under a colorful babushka or bandanna. He placed other figures, either male or female, each smaller then the one before, inside the largest doll, dressing them in kosovorotkas, or Russian blouses fastened on one side, shirts, poddyovkas, or men’s long-waisted coats, and aprons. He planned to have the smallest, innermost doll, traditionally a baby, turned from a single piece of wood.

Each wooden doll contained symbols of fertility. Doll makers considered the largest doll the matriarch of the family, while they referred to the smallest as the “seed,”’ representing the soul. They’re seen as a representation of a chain of mothers carrying on the family legacy through the child in their womb. Dolls soon became a major export as a Russian souvenir. Non-Russian buyers believed they were authentic handmade folk art.

Mamontov's wife presented the doll set at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900, where they won a bronze medal. Soon after, craftsmen in several other Russian towns began making them and shipping them around the world. 

So where did the name for these dolls originate? At the end of 19th century, Matrena was one of the popular female names in Russia. Derived from the Latin root matrena, it means, "mother," “respected lady," or "mother of the family." Placing one figure inside another was also a fitting symbol of fertility and perpetuation. People also referred to these dolls as "babushka dolls," "babushka" meaning "grandmother" or "elderly woman" and also the name of the bandana worn by peasant women at the time.

But matryoshka dolls required a lot of skill to produce. Those who did know how to fashion these dolls kept the process a secret.  

Artisans generally chose linden wood because of its softness, and less often alder or birch. It was important to cut the wood at the right time, when it was neither too dry nor too damp. Each piece went through as many as 15 separate processes. The craftsman created the smallest doll first.

Once he had made the smallest doll, he then moved on to the next figure into which that first doll would fit. He cut a piece of wood to the necessary height, then cut it in half to form a top and bottom section. He worked on the bottom section of the doll first, removing the wood from the inside of both sections of the second doll so that the smaller doll would fit snugly inside. A skilled craftsman didn’t bother to make measurements but relied solely on his experience. Afterwards, he repeated the process, making a slightly larger doll into which the previous ones would fit.

Some people believed that a craftsman carved all the dolls in a set from one piece of wood. Actually, he used a lathe equipped with a balance bar and four heavy two-foot-long distinct types of chisels—a hook, knife, pipe, and spoon—to carve the dolls from multiple pieces of wood, using a set of handmade wooden calipers especially crafted to the size of the doll by a woodcarver. A village blacksmith hand forged these tools from car axles or other salvage. 

The number of dolls held one inside the other varied from 2 to 60. There was no limit to the size of these dolls. When the craftsman finished each doll, he covered it with starchy glue that filled in any hollow areas in its surface. Then he polished the dolls to a smooth finish to enable the painter to spread the paint evenly. After fashioning and finishing the wooden dolls, the craftsman handed it on to a painter who then decorated them in a folksy style.

Much of the artistry was in the painting of each doll. Some were very elaborate. The dolls often followed a theme which could vary from fairy tale characters to Soviet leaders. Originally, doll makers used themes drawn from tradition or fairy tale characters, in keeping with the craft tradition. But since the 20th century, they have embraced a larger range, including flowers, churches, icons, folk tales, family themes, religious subjects, and even Soviet and American political leaders.

Makers of matryoshka dolls often designed them to follow a particular theme. For instance, peasant girls in traditional dress. Originally, they took themes from traditional folk art or fairy tale characters, in keeping with the craft tradition—but since the late 20th century, they have embraced a larger range, including Russian leaders.

Common themes of matryoshkas were floral and related to nature. Christmas, Easter, and others religious subjects were also popular themes. Eventually, the dolls became popular souvenirs for both Russian tourists and visitors from abroad. Artisans created many new styles of nesting dolls to fill this new market. These included animal collections, portraits, and caricatures of famous politicians, musicians, athletes, astronauts, "robots", and popular movie stars.

The craft of making Matryoshka dolls gradually spread from Moscow to other cities and towns, including Semenov, Polkhovskiy Maidan, Vyatka, and Tver. Each locality developed its own style and form of decoration. 

As with other crafts, the Russian Government under Communism strictly controlled doll making and selling. But political changes at the end of the 1980s gave artisans new possibilities and freedoms.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Age of Photography" in the 2023 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Fragments of Beauty

 

QUESTION: Some time ago, I was browsing at a local flea market where I came upon a small decorated wooden box on one of the tables. The top had a serious of interlocking blocks that formed a sort of optical illusion. And on closer inspection, I realized little pieces of wood veneer covered the entire surface of the box. I’ve never seen anything like it since. Needless to say, I paid for the box immediately. Can you tell me what sort of decoration is on this box? How old might it be?

ANSWER: What you have is an example of Tunbridge ware, a form of decoratively inlaid woodwork, typically in the form of boxes, that originated in Tonbridge, England, and the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent in 1830. The decoration consisted of a mosaic of many tiny pieces of different colored wood assembled to form a design or scene.

Located about 40 miles southeast of London, the spa town of Tunbridge Wells sits in a wooded area. In the 17th century, there was so much timber that woodwork became the town’s main industry. For over 200 years, local makers specialized in this distinctive wooden ware. Originally, woodworkers decorated their creations with simple designs, painted on to light-colored objects. 

Around 1830, James Burrows invented a technique of creating mosaics from wooden pieces. He tightly glued together a bunch of wooden sticks of different colors, each having triangular or diamond-shaped cross section. For half-square mosaic, Burrows took thin slices from the composite block and applied them to the surface of an object, usually a box.

Makers of early Tunbridge ware didn’t decorate it but by the second half of the 18th century, more decoration appeared. Some were painted in colors on a whitewood background or painted in black to imitate Asian styles.  

At first the designs were simple and often geometrical, such as a clever arrangement of piled cubes, but as the artisans became more expert, they used an effective pattern representing wool-work. Pictures in mosaic of places of interest were another addition.

Making Tunbridge ware was tedious. Each separate fragment had to be laboriously fitted into its place until the picture was completed. Even then only one mosaic resulted from days of toil. To get over this difficulty, Burrows hit on the scheme of assembling a number of thin strips of appropriately colored woods into a block,. about 12 to 18 inches deep, so that their ends made up the desired scene or pattern. Bound, and glued under pressure, the strips were finally formed into one compact whole. A circular saw was next employed to shave off wafer-thin slices from across the block, and each of these layers now became a veneer which could easily be glued to the article it was to decorate. 

The makers of Tunbridge ware employed about 40 different kinds of wood in a variety of colors. They used only natural colors. They often took designs, such as the block over block motif, for their articles from Berlin wool work. 

Besides the Burrows family, the other company making Tunbridge ware in the 1830s was Fenner and Company. When William Fenner retired in 1840, Edmund Nye and his father took over the business, after 30 years in partnership with him. The company made articles such as workboxes and tea caddies with prints of popular views. Later items had pictures created from mosaics.

Edmund Nye, Robert Russell, and Henry Hollamby showed their Tunbridge ware at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Edmund Nye received a commendation from the judges for a a table depicting a mosaic of a ship at sea which used 110,800 wooden tesserae. 

The makers of Tunbridge ware operated cottage industries There were no more than nine in Tunbridge Wells and one in Tonbridge. The number declined in the 1880s since finding skilled craftsmen was difficult, plus public tastes changed. After the death of Thomas Barton in 1903, the only surviving firm was Boyce, Brown and Kemp, which closed in 1927.

Princess Victoria favored Tunbridge ware in the early 19th century. Local makers drew lots to present Princess Victoria with a single example piece of their artistry. A work table described as ‘veneered with party-colored woods from every part of the globe’ and ‘lined with gold tufted satin’ was given to the royal visitor.

Visitors flocked to the spa town of Tunbridge Wells and bought the items as souvenirs and gifts. Articles included cribbage boards, paperweights, writing slopes, snuff boxes and glove boxes. Well-healed travelers had a variety of  objects to choose from. Tables, tea caddies, rulers, workboxes, holders , fruit or bread baskets, candlesticks, chess tables, pencil boxes, stationery cabinets, and pin trays were but a few of the many items decorated using the wood mosaic technique.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Age of Photography" in the 2023 Fall Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Silent Greeters to the World of Tobacco

 

QUESTION: When I was a little boy, my mother used to take me shopping with her in our little midwestern town. On the way to the emporium, we used to pass by a strange looking shop. I didn’t like to go by it because there was a large fearsome figure standing out front. The figure was a large Indian—yes, back then we called them Indians— carved in wood. He had a gruesome look on his face which scared me, so I covered my eyes as we walked passed. I always wondered why this shop had such a frightening figure out front. Today, most tobacco shops are low key and look like any other shop on the street. What is the origin of the cigar-store Indian? And why did tobacco shop owners choose an Indian to stand out front?  

ANSWER: Many people today haven’t ever seen an authentic cigar-store Indian. And with the sensitive climate about Native Americans, they probably never will. But back in the 19th century they were a common site along the main streets of small towns across the country.  

Cigar-store Indians, with their serious chiseled faces, conveyed a sense of grandeur as they greeted customers to tobacco shops. Designed to capture the attention of passersby, most of whom in the 19th century lacked a shared common language, the sidewalk wooden Indian became a symbol of the tobacco retail business. Because American Indians introduced tobacco to the Europeans as early as the 17th century, European tobacconists began using figures of American Indians to advertise their shops. 

Most of these silent greeters stood just outside the door, often mounted on wheels so that they could be rolled in and out. The origin of the wooden Indian dates back to England in 1617, when tobacco shop owners placed small wooden figures called "Virginie Men," depicted as black men wearing headdresses and kilts made of tobacco leaves, on countertops to represent tobacco companies.

Eventually, the European cigar-store figure began to take on a more authentic yet highly stylized appearance, and by the time these figures arrived in America in the late 18th century, they had become authentic Indians, fairly accurate and beautifully carved.

Carvers of these shop figures came from among the makers of ship figureheads. During the late 19th century, the demise of the clipper ship era forced figurehead carvers out of business. These craftsmen gradually turned to producing wooden Indians. Production flourished from about 1840 to the end of the century. In the 1890s, city ordinances required that figures be confined to the interiors of shops, and gradually the statues went out of use. Instead of attracting customers on the outside, they served as mere decoration inside.

While a few makers produced cigar-store Indians of cast iron, most used wood. Carvers used axes, chisels, and mallets on white pine or even quartered ships’ masts, then painted the completed figures in a variety of colors and designs.

While some of these wooden Indians appeared inviting, happily greeting customers, others appeared defensive, as if guarding the store from shoplifters, thieves, and "no smoking" ordinances.

American carvers sculpted Indian chiefs, braves, princesses and Indian maidens, sometimes with boarded papooses. Most of these displayed some form of tobacco in their hands or on their clothing. They generally depicted stereotypical chiefs and squaws, clothed in fringed buckskins, draped with blankets, decorated with feathered headdresses, and sometimes shown holding tomahawks or bows, arrows and spears. Their facial features rarely resembled members of any particular American Indian tribe.

Female wooden Indians, also known as “Pocahontas,” appeared four times more than their male counterparts in classical or Egyptian-inspired poses. Carvers occasionally donned them with headdresses of tobacco leaves instead of feathers and dressed their male figures in the traditional war bonnets of the Plains Indians.

Carvers produced about 300 cigar-store Indians annually—yet there are relatively few original ones left today. Those that do exist reside in museums and in private collections. Historians believe carvers created over 100,000 cigar-store Indians. Since the carvers all competed with each other for the tobacconists' business, each tried to out do the other in individuality, versatility and depth. A few artists even used Native Americans as models.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Mysterious Mauchline Ware

 

QUESTION: As I browse the booths of antique shows in my area, I’ve come upon small ochre-colored wooden boxes in various shapes with a black printed image of a historical landmark, most of which seem to be from America. The prices of these little boxes are through the roof. What are these items, and why are they so pricey?

ANSWER: What you’ve been seeing is known as Mauchline (pronounced Moch’lin) Ware, a form of souvenir ware made by the Smith family of Mauchline, Ayrshire, now Strathclyde, Scotland, and favored by affluent Victorians traveling abroad.

Adorned with transfer ware scenes of landmarks, this Scottish wooden ware dates from about 1880 to 1900. Though the Smiths sold it throughout the United Kingdom, they also exported to North America, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and elsewhere.

Mauchline, located 11 miles inland from the Scottish coastal resort of Ayr, was the center of the Mauchline Ware industry, which at its peak in the 1860s, employed over 400 people in the manufacture of small, but beautifully made and invariably useful wooden souvenirs and gift ware. Because of the contribution its originators, W. & A. Smith of Mauchline, the majority of souvenirs produced in southwest Scotland from the early 19th-century to the 1930s has come to be commonly known as "Mauchline Ware."

Mauchline Ware developed partly by accident and partly through necessity. Towards the end of the 18th century in the town of Alyth, Perthshire (now Tayside), a man named John Sandy invented the "hidden hinge" snuff box. His invention eventually spread to at least 50 other Scottish snuff box manufacturers in the early 1820s, most of them in Ayrshire, including William and Andrew Smith of Mauchline. 

With so many manufacturers, snuff box production continued at an all-time high, but the habit of taking snuff was on its way out. Although they made mostly snuff boxes, manufacturers like W.& A. Smith also produced other items, from postage stamp boxes to tea trays, all out of wood. The first of the new products were tea caddies utilizing the hidden hinge. In fact, they were so highly prized that when a female employee got married, the Smith’s Box Works gave her one of their tea caddies as a present.

Over the next century, the Smiths of Mauchline and their competitors produced tens of thousands of articles in hundreds of styles and in several different finishes. They generally used sycamore wood, which has a very close grain and a pleasing color. The precise date of the first transfer wares isn’t known, but companies manufactured them from the early 1850s until 1933.

Woodworkers created more items with transfer decoration than any other finish. These were true souvenir wares, since they decorated each piece with a view associated with the place of purchase.

Skilled craftsman applied transfers to the finished articles prior to coating them with several layers of slow drying copal varnish. This process took from 6 to 12 weeks to complete, although it seems that they must of developed an accelerated means of varnishing to cope with the sheer scale of production. However, this lengthy and careful process of manufacture accounted for the extreme durability of these products, many of which have survived in near mint condition.

As with earlier hand-decorated snuff boxes, manufacturers used sycamore wood, known as "plane" in Scotland, its pale color making an excellent background for the black transfers. While the majority of Mauchline Ware items were small, thus warranting only a single transfer, it was by no means unusual for craftsmen to apply six or more transfers to some of the larger pieces. Where they applied more than one transfer, the Smiths related views to one another, either by subject or geography.

Views of Scotland dominated the transfer ware. "Burnsian" views, by far, formed the largest single grouping and views associated with Sir Walter Scott probably the second. In addition to virtually every town and village, producers immortalized a great number of beauty spots, country houses, churches, schools, ruins and even cottage hospitals in transfer ware. Other views included seaside resorts and the inland spa towns of Malvern, Cheltenham, Chester, Bath and Harrogate, which became increasingly accessible to a growing number of people as a result of the rapidly expanding rail network. The Isle of Wight was particularly popular, probably due to Victoria's love of the place. And the popular south and east coast resorts--Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Margate and Scarborough--saw their share.

From the 1830s on, makers produced a steadily decreasing number of snuff boxes while producing an increasing array of needlework, stationery, domestic and cosmetic items as well as articles for personal decoration and amusement. In addition, companies created an incredible range of boxes in every conceivable size and shape and for limitless purposes.

A great many cotton, thread and ribbon manufacturers—J & P Coates, Chadwicks, Clarks Glenfield, Kerr and Medlock—purchased Mauchline Ware containers for their products, their names clearly yet discreetly displayed either inside the lid or on the base. Thus, manufacturers transformed rather mundane accessories into attractive gifts.

Producers also turned out novelty inkwells, pens, pencils, pencil boxes and letter openers, as well as many designs of bookmarks including a patented combined bookmark and paper cutter.

And it’s because of Mauchline Ware’s uniqueness that prices for it have risen to such high levels.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Little Japanese Treasures

 

QUESTION: While most people go to antique shows looking for items to add to their collections, I go to see what I can discover that I’ve never seen before. And though the larger items dominate the show, I prefer to look in the glass cases of smalls—objects too small to display on the table by themselves. At a recent show, I was looking intensely in one of these display cases and discovered several small sculptures of figures and animals. Some seemed to be made of ivory or bone while others had been carved from various types of exotic hardwoods. The dealer referred to them as “netsuke” and added that they usually hung on the strings of an inro, a small wooden purse worn by men in traditional Japanese dress. What can you tell me about these intriguing items? They weren’t cheap, so I’m guessing that they’re pretty valuable.

ANSWER: Antique Japanese netsuke (pronounced "netski") have been prized by collectors since the late 19th century for their beauty and aesthetic appeal. From the 17th through mid-19th century, Japanese citizens wore the kimono, a simple T-shaped robe wrapped around the body and held in place with an obi sash. In order to carry small items such as tobacco, medicine, and seals, ingeniously made sagemono, meaning  “hanging things,”) hung on cords from the obi sash

Netsuke served as anchors or counterweights for stacked, nested containers, known as inrô and sagemono which held personal seals and medicine. Eventually, craftsmen divided the inro into sections to hold money, perfume, and tobacco. The wearer threaded a single cord through a cord channel on one side of the suspended container, through two holes in the netsuke, then through the other side of the container, and knotted on the underside of the container. A decorative bead, or ojime, slid along the cord between the netsuke and sagemono, allowing the user to open and close the container.

The wearer would slip the netsuke under and dangle it over the obi, allowing the sagemono to hang suspended between waist and hip. In order to access the contents of the sagemono, the wearer slipped the netsuke behind the obi sash, liberating the ensemble. By sliding the ojime toward the netsuke, the contents of the container could easily be accessed.

Originally worn as part of a male kimono ensemble by men of the warrior class, inro and netsuke evolved into a mark of class, with warriors at the top, followed by farmers who tilled the land, artisans who crafted material goods, and merchants at the bottom.

Because merchants were economically better off than many members of the socially superior military class, inro and netsuke also allowed merchants to display their wealth.  Inro and netsuke, often made of expensive, rare materials and bearing the signature and seal of the carver, were an indication of wealth. 

Sculptors most often carved netsuke from wood or ivory, but as their popularity and status increased, they made them of richer materials, such as mother of pearl, porcelain, lacquer, amber, and semi-precious stones. If a collector finds a netsuke made of two materials, it's probably from a later period. Ranging in size from one to three inches, sculptors carved these tiny treasures in a wide variety of forms, including shells, animals, vegetables, and favorite characters from Oriental folklore and religion.

Netsuke carvers preferred boxwood for its fine grain and durability. They also used various types of native Japanese wood—cypress, cherry, black persimmon, yew, camphor, zelkova, and camellia. However, one of the most popular materials for netsuke was elephant tusk ivory. 

These little sculptures came in many forms, such as badgers, known for their mischievous pranks, or carp, the symbol for courage. Some took the shape of a  baku, a mythic, elephant-like creature believed to eat the nightmares of those who sleep on a piece of paper bearing its name.

Netsuke carvers worked with general subjects but in an often lighthearted, humorous way. Originally, they created netsuke of wood to be worn, and eventually discarded after daily use. Carvers also made sure their netsuke had no sharp edges and balanced them so they hung correctly on the man’s sash. A netsuke’s size depended on the weight of the inro and the proportions of the owner.

Carvers used the tusks of walrus or narwhal or the teeth of a sperm whale, as well as woods such as mahogany and ebony, to carve the best netsuke. Most of the best netsuke sculptors at the peak of fancy netsuke lived near where marine ivory was more plentiful. They began using this material because they knew how to carve it. It’s not only the subject of each netsuke, rather than the material used, but the extraordinary workmanship that gives each one its special artistic appeal.

Traditionally, netsuke carvers worked in specific formats. Three-dimensional figures, or katabori, account for the most of them. Carved in the round and often referred to as miniature sculptures, the undersides of which were also completely carved. Rounded forms, named after the round sweet bean cakes they resemble, were also quite popular. Another conventional netsuke shape is the kagami, or mirror, consisting of a round, bowl-shaped base and a lid fashioned of a flat disk of metal. Craftsmen employed a variety of metals, such as brass, bronze, copper, gold, iron, pewter, and silver. Carvers favored two alloys, shakudo, made by combining copper and gold,  and shibuichi, combining copper and silver, for their range of colors and patina.

Carvers drew on varied themes for these accessories—nature, mythical tales, historical figures, masks used in theatrical performances, and gods and demons. Other themes included h erotica, the grotesque, or parodies and satirical depictions of elite culture. 

Some of the best Japanese artists, such as Yamada Hojitsu and Shuzan, carved netsuke. But it’s those who specialized in making them that collectors prefer.

Eventually, netsuke represented the fashions, fancies, and fables of Japanese society. After the reopening of Japan to the West in 1853, Japanese gentlemen soon took to wearing western style suits with pockets, and the need for carrying an inro with its accompanying netsuke quickly disappeared.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Coffee--The Brew of Life" in the 2023 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.