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 of attaching to a cord. Netsuke were made in a variety of forms, the most widely appreciated is the katabori (shape carving), a three-dimensional carving, such as this one in the form of a dragon in a Chinese lantern plant. The great skill of this netsuke carver lay in contrasting the shape and texture of this apparently unlikely combination of subjects.

The dragon is one of the 12 animals of the East Asian zodiac in Chinese cosmology. In a recurring cycle of 12, each animal is assigned to a year in a specific order. The traditional order is the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, cock, dog and boar. A netsuke portraying any of these animals was particularly associated with New Year festivities of the appropriate year, but could also be used any time during that particular year. It could also be used again in 12 years time in accordance with the cycle.

From the 18th century onwards, netsuke were increasingly signed by the craftsman. This example is signed ‘Toyokazu’. Toyokazu was a carver of Tanba province, who was active from the mid- to late 19th century. He is thought to have been a pupil of Naito Toyomasa (1773-1856), who was largely responsible for the fame of netsuke in Tanba province.