Sleeping Cat Netsuke

$24.00 at Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Traditional Japanese garments lack pockets. Personal items were carried in small containers or pouches that hung on a cord from a man’s kimono sash. Netsuke served as counterweights that held these containers in place. Developed in the early Edo period (1615–1868) and continuing through the 19th century, netsuke evolved into an art form where increasingly detailed and sophisticated examples reflected the wealth, social status, and taste of the wearer. Kaigyokusai Masatsugu (Japan, 1813–1892), Sleeping Cat…