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The baku is a mythical creature known to devour dreams and nightmares. It has the trunk of an elephant, the tail of an ox and the paws of a tiger .This piece is among the finest netsuke in the collection. Its surface is covered with slightly rounded protuberances, found on eighteenth-century representations of supernatural animals.
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獏牙彫根付
Title: Seated Baku (Mythical Creature Devouring Nightmares)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 18th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Ivory
Dimensions: H. 2 3/4 in. (7 cm); W. 1 in. (2.5 cm); D. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
Classification: Netsuke
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Russell Sage, 1910
Accession Number: 10.211.1105
Learn more about this artwork
Graduate Intern Anabelle Gambert-Jouan highlights netsuke from the Museum's collection in conjunction with the Twitter campaign #NetsukeNovember.
Timeline of Art History
Chronology
Japan, 1600-1800 A.D.
Related Artworks
- All Related Artworks
- Asian Art
- Bone
- Ivory
- Netsukes
- Sculpture
- From Asia
- From Japan
- From A.D. 1600–1800
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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
