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 hard-wearing. 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 Hotei, one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, with two of his main attributes, a fan and sack.

From the 18th century onwards, netsuke were increasingly signed with the carver’s name. This example is signed ‘Shuzan’. Yoshimura Shuzan was a painter and netsuke carver, who died in 1773. He was reputed to have carved netsuke mostly from cypress, a soft wood that wears down relatively easily. It is quite probable that it was for this reason that he originally started painting his carvings. Through wear and tear the coloured surface rubbed off in parts, resulting in a pleasant effect, as shown here.

Although this example is signed, Shuzan is known not to have signed his netsuke, which makes identifying genuine works extremely difficult. It was already recorded in the late 18th century that there were many fakes attributed to Shuzan. This example is undoubtedly a typical copy of the mid to late 19th century.