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[JAPAN] Narodnoye tvorchestvo Yaponii. Miniatyurnaya skul'ptura: nettske, maski, tsuby [i.e. Folk Art of Japan. Miniature Sculptures: Netsuke, Masks, Tsuba]

Dmitrenko, R.

Moscow: Nauka i prosveshcheniye, 1928. Item #2249

32 pp.: ill. 24x15,5 cm. In original illustrated publisher’s wrappers. Mint, light foxing and soiling on covers, minor tears of oversized wrappers.

Scarce. First edition. 1 of 500 copies.
An interesting edition dedicated to Japanese folk art, published by the Soviet State Museum of Oriental Art (1918-) in 1928. The publication came out two years before the deterioration of the already tense Japanese-Soviet relations.
The book offers a detailed analysis of traditional Japanese miniature sculptures (netsuke), netsuke-masks, traditional Japanese cases (inro), and Japanese sword mountings (tsuba) and meticulously describes their main characteristics. The edition includes 18 black and white illustrations showing traditional Japanese art items stored in the collection of the Soviet State Museum of Oriental Art.
The poor relations between the Soviet Union and Japan from the 1920s until the late 1940s originated in Japan's victory over Imperial Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Beginning in 1930 amid deteriorating relations with Poland, Joseph Stalin became concerned about the possibility of a two-front war with Poland and Japan. After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932, Japan turned its military interests to Soviet territories. Soviet-Japanese relations sharply deteriorated after 1936, resulting in a number of border conflicts.

Price: $450.00