netsuken.

1876 Catal. Coll. Japanese Art lent by W. J. Alt (Victoria & Albert Mus.) 2 These medicine boxes hold small pills.., and are slung to the girdle by a Nétsuké or toggle.

1876 W. E. Griffis Mikado's Empire ii. ii. 364 Nearly all the ivory thus imported is put to a single use. It is carved into nétsŭkés, or large buttons perforated with two holes.

1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 743 Come in here a moment, please, and see my new netsukes.

1888 Art Jrnl. Dec. 374 The mark which distinguishes a netsuké from an okimono..is the presence of two small holes, usually in the back, which admit of a cord being strung through them.

1924 Times 29 Nov. 9/2 The netzuke [in a sale of Oriental art] included a coiled snake, signed Sukenaga.

1934 U. Close Challenge 297 A sort of netsuke in words is the classic length poem of Mr. Karusu.

1956 I. Murdoch Flight from Enchanter (1976) xv. 188 In the centre of the shelf was a group of ivory figures of men and animals... ‘They're called netsuke... They were made in Japan in the eighteenth century. People used to wear them on their clothes.’

1988 E. Feinstein Mother's Girl iv. 41 Display cabinets which held swirling Venetian scent bottles, and netsuke ivories.

1994 Independent on Sunday 27 Mar. (Review Suppl.) 78/1 The..39-year-old prince..is Japan's leading collector of contemporary netsuke—miniature sculptures of a special type that used to be part of a gentleman's dress. Up to the late 19th century they were used with kimonos as toggles or buttons that attached pouches to the belt. Now they are simply made as showpieces.

1997 J. Hutt Japanese Inrō 11 With the inrō at the bottom of the ensemble and the cord passing behind the sash [sc. the obi], the netsuke lies over the upper part of the sash... Its form, however slight, helps to prevent the inrō from falling to the ground.