San Antonio College Library

The practical need for the small carvings known as netsuke on which the Japanese lavished their sculptural skills for more than two centuries arose from the simple fact that traditional Japanese dress had no pockets. Women, it is true, sometimes carried small articles in their sleeves and members of the warrior class (samurai), who were permitted to wear two swords, might hang everyday objects on the long hilts of their weapons, but the townspeople...