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CA0951 · ordinary life
Creator/community: Unidentified Japanese makers; imported Dutch leather Place/era: Japan; 18th century, Edo period
Generated interpretation
Invented embossed-leather pouch and closed pipe case. Credit: AI-generated for Culture Ark using OpenAI image generation. Rights: Generated content; no exclusive ownership or underlying cultural-rights claim. Changes: Resized within1400px and converted to WebP; no crop or substantive alteration.
Leather and metal textures coherent; no smoking or tobacco use shown, not an exact artifact copy. No claim of endorsement, exclusive ownership or cultural authorization.
Documented reference / existing artwork
Tobacco Pouch and Pipe with Netsuke of Freshwater Pearl in Gold Mount. 18th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14.40.843a, b. Credit: Japan / The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913. Rights: Public domain; Met Open Access. Changes: Resized within1400px and converted to WebP; no crop or substantive alteration. Image source Image licence
Met API explicitly marks isPublicDomain=true. Image reuse permission does not transfer ownership of the object or resolve cultural permissions, sacred significance, provenance or restitution questions. Retain the catalog context.
History and context
This tobacco pouch and pipe set combines materials associated with different places and forms of craftsmanship. The Met identifies Dutch embossed leather with silver foil and colour in the pouch and pipe case, alongside precious-metal fittings, a metal pipe and a netsuke incorporating freshwater pearl and gold. Dated to the 18th century in Japan, the set shows how imported material could become part of a locally used personal accessory. Its interest is not simply in tobacco: it records the organization of possessions carried on the body and the aesthetic attention devoted to a socially visible habit.
What future readers can learn
Curatorial interpretation: Personal accessories can make long-distance exchange tangible at the scale of an individual’s daily possessions.
Limits and cultural context
This is not an endorsement of smoking. The costly surviving set should not be assumed typical, and its specific owner is not identified.
Where to learn more
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