A small bronze sculpture of a frog emerging from a huge lotus leaf, a small but detailed
beetle on the other side of the leaf. The frog (kaeru) is associated with luck and wealth.
In feudal Japan, tax collectors could be recognized by the frog-shaped netsuke they
wore on their belts. Kaeru means both “frog” and “coming home” in Japanese. This
extension of meaning is due to the frog’s ability to return each year to the pond where
it was born. Whereas the lotus flower, called Hasu in Japanese, is believed to be a
symbol of purity and perfection because of the contrast between its beauty and the
muddy water where it grows. For this reason, it progressively became a spiritual
symbol of purification and re-birth in the Shinto religion.

Japan – Taisho era (1912-1926)
Height: 2 cm – Length: 7 cm – Width: 3 cm