- Okimono
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Okimono: Red dog.
Okimono (Japanese: 置物; literally: "put thing") is a Japanese term meaning "ornament for display; objet d'art; decorative object", typically displayed in a tokonoma "alcove" or butsudan "Buddhist altar".
The Japanese word okimono compounds oku 置く "put; place; set; lay out; assign; station; leave" and mono 物 "thing; object; article". The Oxford English Dictionary defines the loanword okimono, "A standing ornament or figure, esp. one put in a guest room of a house", and records the first usage in 1886 by William Anderson.[1]
An okimono may be a small Japanese carving, similar to, but larger than netsuke. Unlike netsuke, which had a specific purpose, okimono were purely decorative and were displayed in the tokonoma. During the Meiji period many okimono were made for export to the west.
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary (2009), CD-ROM edition (v. 4.0).
- Definition of Okimono at Kitsune Japanese Art Gallery. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
Link
Categories:- Japanese crafts
- Japanese words and phrases
- Japanese art stubs
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