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Netsuke in the Form of a Puppy
(Japan and Korea )
The dog represented the 11th year in the Chinese and Japanese 12-year cycle and was popularly regarded as a dispeller of evil. It was frequently portrayed as a puppy. Ohara Mitsuhiro, one of the most versatile and highly regarded netsuke artists of the mid-19th century, was born in Onamichi, near Hiroshima, and became an adherent of Zen Buddhism. In this example of his work, the smooth, rounded, subtly stained surface appeals to the viewer's tactile sense.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
William T. Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2003-2004 | The Fabergé Menagerie. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus; Portland Art Museum, Portland. |
| 1978 | Netsuke: Miniature Sculpture of Japan. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Japan, Osaka (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 1 5/16 × W: 1 1/8 × D: 15/16 in. (3.4 × 2.9 × 2.4 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
71.911