Featured Netsuke: Wooden 5-Mushroom Cluster, Signed

The dark pics are LED ceiling light; the light ones are flash: both sets edited for light an' saturation, so the color isn't accurate anywhere.
It's ~2" long, ~1" wide, ~1" high; weight ~10 grams.
The signature (red) may be upside down; I'm hoping one of y'all can read it, please. Your other comments are welcome, an' thanks for lookin!

 

Where are the holes for the cord?

 

Sorry, Holly...poorly pictured. Look at pic 8, please...there are holes between between all the mushroom stems.

 

But for a netsuke to work properly the 2 holes should connect to each other and their openings should be on the reverse of the object. I don't think this is right for a netsuke.

 

I concur.....

 

Your piece would be called an okimono.

 

I agree, okimono, which is the name given to small decorative carvings. Very sweet.

 

So...netsuke has holes (as I have seen) that are 'formally' placed an' often outlined, usually beneath the object?
I accept that the holes 'through' mine aren't of that nature...so okimono it is. Thanks!

 

Netsuke are toggles. They were tied to a cord which was attached to a pouch or box. The cord was tucked under the 'obi', wide waistband, and the toggle/netsuke sat on top of the obi to prevent the cord from slipping out.

 

Thanks, AJ...I understand all of that..thanks.
When I received the okimono, it had a short cord loop, with the knot carefully tucked into the 'tween-stem passages. As I gently pulled on that loop to straighten it for photos, it parted in 2 places...apparently rotten! I removed the remnant an' the knot, discarding the (brown, woven) pieces.
In truth, that cord was way too short to have allowed its use in a toggle, even for itself let alone another object. I'll find those pieces an' test them for silk or cotton.
Pics of them, an' of the well defined multi-holed understory of the 'shrooms, soon.

 

There is also a small usually round, sliding toggle called Ojime, that held the cord tight and closed against the inro. Netsuke on the top, ojime in the middle and the inro at the bottom.

 

Yes, those are more bead-like. I have a couple of ojime, as well as some netsuke.

 

Yep...I've got a small handful of ojime. About half of them are ivory, so I'm sorta stuck with 'em.

 

The 1st pic shows all I could find of the loop cord; what's missing would be about as long as one of the 2 parts above the knot, say ~2 inches. It's not silk, so high probable it's cotton. The 2nd to 5th pics are individual shots thru the mushroom stems, showing where the cord may have been threaded an' secured.

 

Strangely enough I bought one a couple of weeks ago.

 

A cute modern one, made in China. Probably boxwood.

 

Yes. Likely. I've seen similar on Alibaba.