Tiger 18th century

Editor: Here we have an 18th-century Japanese carving of a tiger, made from what appears to be wood. It’s a charming little sculpture; the tiger almost looks like a playful kitten. How should we interpret this work, considering its historical context? Curator: Looking at this netsuke, the labor involved immediately strikes me. Consider the craftsman: carving something so detailed from wood – the precise cuts to delineate the fur, the face. How did this artisan learn these specialized skills? It speaks volumes about apprenticeship and the transmission of knowledge within artisan communities of the time. Editor: That's interesting! It’s so tactile, it makes you want to know about the types of wood available, how accessible those materials were, and how that impacted the process. Curator: Exactly! The type of wood itself might have influenced the design – its grain, density, and workability dictating the level of detail achievable. Furthermore, who would own such an object? It implies a level of wealth or status needed to commission or purchase something requiring such labor-intensive production. Editor: So, it’s less about the "art" and more about the how, the why, and who? It completely reframes how I view it. Curator: Precisely! We're shifting the focus from purely aesthetic appreciation to understanding the socioeconomic context that shaped its creation and circulation. Perhaps by understanding how the piece was created, we understand more about the world the artist inhabited. Editor: This completely changes the way I would talk about the netsuke. I now see its place within systems of labour and consumption. Curator: And it makes you question how we assign value and what makes an art object desirable across different socioeconomic lines.