Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 20. (Budapest, 2001)

Mária FERENCZY: On the history of the Netsuke collection of the Ferenc Hopp Museum - on the Occasion of the Publication of its Catalogue

MARIA FERENCZY ON THE HISTORY OF THE NETSUKE COLLECTION OF THE FERENC HOPP MUSEUM - on the occasion of the publication of its catalogue

1 Simultaneously with this issue, a volume entitled Netsuke. Japanese Miniature Carvings, the 1

st volume of the Collection Catalogues' Series of the Museum is coming out of the press: Collections of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts, Volume I, by Éva Cseh, with a Chapter on the Collection's History contributed by Mária Ferenczy. Hopp Ferenc Kelet-Ázsiai Művészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 2001; in English, with 790 photos (including 150 in colour; 541 of art objects and 242 of signatures, taken by Miklós Sulyok), with Glossary, Selected Bibliography and Index of Names and Subjects. The present paper is an broadened version of the chapter on the history, with a selection of photos; the first three paragraphs based on the text by Éva Cseh. Netsuke were originally used as small toggles attached to the end of a cord to help suspend personal articles

2 from belts in Japan, further on, developed into the most original and characteristic form of the art of the Edo period (1603-1867). In fact, it became an independent art form, and got gradually separated from its original function. The art of netsuke-making flourished from the second half of the 18

th to the second half of the 19

th centuries. With the changing of the customary manner of dressing in the early Meiji period, netsuke lost their function and became art objects rather than articles of personal belongings. Like so many objects, mainly smaller ones, that lost their function in that period, netsuke also came to be admired by people from different cultures who visited Japan after it was reopened for foreigners. Netsuke, just like other pieces of characteristically Japanese art, attracted foreigners' attention with the variety of their forms, their rich and subtle motifs and technical perfection. The term netsuke primarily evokes associations of figurai pieces (katabori), which are the most frequent type and exist in the greatest variety (they are represented in the highest number in the majority of private collections and in collections of museums as well). However, there are other types of netsuke too, which used to be less in demand by collectors. One of these types is the roundish netsuke, which is functionally the ideal shape. It exists in different types, namely, manjü, ryüsa and kagamibuJa? The miniature masks can also be regarded as a distinct group of netsuke. Until the 1950s and 1960s, art history did not consider this type of miniature statues as an important genre. Fortunately, the situation has changed and, like so many other types of artefacts earlier in low esteem in their home country, netsuke have also won due recognition. Catalogues, collection catalogues and studies are published frequently about significant private collections as well as public collections. Resulting from the coincidence of several circumstances, the first volume in the series of the Hopp Museum's Collection Catalogues presents the netsuke collection consisting of 550 pieces. Éva Cseh, an expert at both Japanese and Chinese art, has worked for the museum for more than thirty years, and, of all the experts of the museum, she has spent longest time doing research in our Japanese collection. For the last ten years, she has been the only person in