Netsuke are miniature Japanese sculptures which are most often carved from ivory or wood, and sometimes from other materials. They were first made in the early 17th century, and used to fasten a small box (the inro) containing medicines and personal belongings to the sash (or obi) worn around traditional Japanese garments such as the kimono. Later on they were made solely for ornamental purposes.
The ivory skull and wooden mask netsuke shown in the photograph above are on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which has a very nice collection of these delightful objects. Despite being just 1.5 inches in height, they are exquisitely detailed. The skull, for example, is anatomically accurate, with the mandible, maxilla, and frontal, nasal and zygomatic bones depicted correctly.
See more of my netsuke photographs on Flickr, and see also these wonderful vintage Japanese neuroanatomical illustrations.
Comments (4)
I love these, Mo. What a perfect Halloween post.
I recently came across this New Yorker article on psychopaths. The article itself is fascinating and is very insightful about the impact of neuroscience on cultural perceptions. However, what interests me the most about psychopaths is this idea that keeps occurring to me and I wanted your opinion.
I wonder if the kind of empathy modern humans have may be a fairly recent mutation, maybe even as recent as ancient Greece. When one reads about the ancient world and the truly horrific practices of torture, slavery and other barbarisms, it's hard not to classify the people behaving this way as psychopaths. Now, of course, some of the modification of human empathy is cultural but still I wonder if there wasn't a fundamental physical change between us and the peoples of the ancient world. What do you think, Mo? Does my idea have any merit by today's knowledge of the brain and genetics?
Posted by: carolyn13 | November 6, 2008 10:42 PM