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Manjū netsuke depicting Minamoto no Yorimasa and Ii no Hayata slaying the nue, a mythical creaturefront

© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

  • Manjū netsuke depicting Minamoto no Yorimasa and Ii no Hayata slaying the nue, a mythical creature (back)
  • Manjū netsuke depicting Minamoto no Yorimasa and Ii no Hayata slaying the nue, a mythical creature (detail)
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Manjū netsuke depicting Minamoto no Yorimasa and Ii no Hayata slaying the nue, a mythical creature

  • Description

    Emperor Konoe was ailing, troubled by a strange feeling accompanied by a dark cloud. The courtiers Minamoto no Yorimasa and Ii no Hayata were sent to investigate and discovered the nue, a creature combining monkey, badger, tiger and snake with the voice of a bird. Between them they killed it and the emperor recovered. This story is also depicted on the two right-hand sheets of the print EA1983.37.

  • Details

    show all
    Associated place
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of creation)
    Date
    early 19th century
    Artist/maker
    Kikugawa Hakuunsai (active early 19th century)
    Associated people
    Ii no Hayata (active Late Heian Period (AD 901 - 1185)) (subject)
    Minamoto no Yorimasa (1106 - 1180) (subject)
    Material and technique
    ivory, probably lathe-turned, with carved decoration, and stained with red and black pigment
    Dimensions
    3.2 cm (height)
    7.5 cm (diameter)
    Material index
    organic › animal › tooth › mammal tooth › ivory
    Technique index
    turned,
    formed › carved,
    carved,
    coloured › stained
    Object type index
    clothing › personal accessory › sagemono › netsuke
    No. of items
    2
    Credit line
    Bequeathed by Dr Monica Barnett, 2001.
    Accession no.
    EA2001.114

  • Further reading

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 23 April-22 September 2013, Manjū: Netsuke from the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Joyce Seaman, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2013), no. 82 on pp. 202-205, illus. pp. 203 & 204

Glossary (3)

Manjū, netsuke, nue

  • Manjū

    The manjū is a type of netsuke or toggle which takes its name from a round, sweet, bean paste-filled bun. A greater dynamism can often be achieved on the front and back of the netsuke than with other three-dimensional carving.

  • netsuke

    The netsuke is a form of toggle that was used to secure personal items suspended on cords from the kimono sash. These items included purses, medicine cases or tobacco paraphernalia.

  • nue

    An imaginary creature with a monkey’s head, badger’s body, paws of a tiger, a snake for a tail and with the voice of a golden mountain thrush (toratsugumi).

Past Exhibition

see (1)

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

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