Читать книгу Fables in Ivory - Adrienne Barbanson - Страница 9

PREFACE:

It is with the greatest of pleasure that I write the preface to this book.

The general public has begun to become familiar with the numerous personages—gods and goddesses, fabulous or mythical people and animals—of Japanese legendry. But it knows them chiefly through prints, designs, and paintings, or through the decorative motifs of Japanese objets d'art, and rarely through the little sculptures, generally of ivory or wood, that are called netsuke.

It is astonishing that the knowledge of netsuke should still be so little diffused. For this reason, we can rejoice in the fact that a book like this one does not address itself solely to a small circle of specialists (the collectors of netsuke are like a large family that occupies and amuses itself with these objects) but chiefly to the general public.

One rarely finds netsuke in exhibits, and it is infrequently indeed that one comes across them in museums. Nor does one truly realize the grandeur of conception of these objects until one examines them closely or studies them in considerably enlarged photographs. One understands then that these tiny objets d'art can well bear comparison with the works of the greatest sculptors. Yet, as objects for collection, netsuke have the advantage of taking up little space, for one can place them in small drawers or miniature glass cabinets, and the collector can always carry his favorite netsuke with him.

As the sculptor Marcel Wolfers has written: "Always available for handling, netsuke appeal first of all to the tactile sense. Their modeling, their charm, and their contrasts are appreciated by caressing them lovingly, and it is in this that the secret of their admirable patina lies."

Felix Tikotin

Wassenaar,

The Netherlands