The Horniman Museum will be closed from 24-26 December. The Horniman Gardens will be closed 25 December only.
Netsuke in the form of an ivory study of a shishi, a mythological animal, with an open mouth. The shishi is seated on a lozenge-shaped base probably representing a rock, its head turned to its right and its right fore paw raised and its body weight resting, through its left paw, on what looks like a tree trunk. It has a long tail curved upwards behind its body reaching as high as its head. The ivory is dark, almost black in the grooves. It has been worn a great deal, so the surface is polished.
These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.
The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.
If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk
