Japanese netsuke

This small toggle was used to counterbalance the container (or inro) worn suspended from a sash by men to store items of everyday use, in the absence of pockets.

From such prosaic beginnings the netsuke developed over the centuries into an item of high fashion.

The whole of Japanese life was plundered for humorous or poetic subjects: images of animals, birds and sea creatures, portraits of dancers and demons, droll cameos of characters from everyday urban life - even a rare poetic evocation of landscape.

The V&A's collection of netsuke is world-famous, and Julia Hutt draws on its many highlights to explore the origins of netsuke and to trace the sources of their designs in prints, paintings and woodblock-printed books.

She records the evolution of materials and techniques, and the patterns of craftsmanship, in a text that is both accessible and comprehensive, and illustrated with some of the very finest examples of the genre.