Spooky Netsuke

[kestrell]

http://www.shadowmanor.com/blog/?p=16331

What, you ask, are netsuke?

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Netsuke started out as utilitarian objects: Little toggles to attach 17th-century Japanese men’s purses* to their belts. Like a lot of mundane objects, they eventually became an outlet for artistic expression until they were essentially intricate, miniature sculptures. And since Japan has a rich mythology, much of which is, from a Western viewpoint, frankly insane, many of these teensy sculptures are very gothy indeed.
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My favorite description is
"some guy who is just entirely too happy to be carrying an octopus"
although, being a Poe fan, I lust after the skull with a raven combination.

Comments

[capri0mni]

I checked out the article, and clicked on the link in that description. And I've got to say: The octopus, on the other hand, looks properly annoyed.

(the man is an older/elderly person wearing a short cropped open tunic, and nothing else. He's standing, looking skyward, to his right, and laughing out loud at something. And he's holding octopus in front of him, grasping a tentacle in each hand. The octopus has got one of its tentacles wrapped around his right forearm).

[jesse_the_k]

Every bead show has a netsuke dealer — these aren't the "collectible" antique ones, but they are made of lovely dense smooth wood, hand carved, and creepy as all get out. They're totally tactile.

[kestrell]

As I said to someone on LJ, I'm not typically into Japanese culture. Seriously, have you ever listened to anime with your eyes closed? It is definitely fucked up and totally defies my ability to make sense of the narrative. However, tactile spooky figures hanging off my clothing is oddly appealing and, the more I think about that skull with a rave, the more I lust after it. Did I ever tell you that I have an Edgar Allan Poe action figure, complete with detachable raven, on my computer desk? I got it in Salem while wandering around in my evil Slytheren schoolgirl outfit during the Halloween weekend I spent at the Harry Potter conference.

[jesse_the_k]

Does your disinterest in anime extended to Avatar, the Last Airbender? I'm watching this for the first time, and it really is as good as everyone has squeed to me. As you probably know, one of the main characters is a blind woman named Toph, who is a skilled earthbender. She perceives the world when the soles of her feet contact the earth. She goes around barefoot with dirty toes and is just delightfully snarky (as well as a kick-ass fighter who creates amazing earth structures).

E A Poe action figure with detachable raven — OF COURSE YOU DO. I would expect nothing less.

[kestrell]

Of course I love Toph! I used to watch the show a few years back, but I don't watch that much TV so I haven't kept up with it.