The netsuke is a toggle. Japanese men used netsuke to suspend various pouches and containers from their sashes by a silk cord. Netsuke had to be small and not too heavy, yet bulky enough to do the job. They needed to be compact with no sharp protruding edges, yet also strong and hardwearing. Above all, they had to have the means for attaching a cord. Netsuke were made in a variety of forms, the most widely appreciated being the katabori (shape carving), a three-dimensional carving such as this one in the form of a tiger.

From around 1750, the designs of katabori netsuke became more realistic. This was probably due to the influence of European painting as seen in Dutch works (rangaku), as the Japanese had very little direct contact with Europeans. As a result, craftsmen began to draw from nature and use perspective, light and shade. They paid great attention to detail, such as animal fur. As a result, 18th century carvers in Kyoto made many netsuke of classic animal subjects. This netsuke of a tiger scratching its face is one such example. The carver was Tomotada (active 1781), who was one of the great Kyoto netsukeshi (netsuke craftsmen). He specialised in oxen and tigers, either on their own or in pairs of a mother and young.