Dragons, gods, demons – ojime – symbolic content hidden in miniature form

Abstract

nowadays through acquaintance with literature, beliefs, myths and leg­ ends. Thanks to this knowledge, a piece of art can be perceived not only with regards to its external form, but also to its content. This presentation aims to disclose some external features with a primary focus on the iconographic analysis of miniature art subjects the collection of forty four 19th century Japanese ojime. Ojime is a bead an ornamental element also used practically on a personal lacquered box (inro) and its accompanying netsuke.15 The set of ojime under discussion here is a private collection which remains one of the largest in Poland. This Ojime collection once belonged to professor Jozef Rancewicz, a dental surgeon from Warsaw,* 25 and was made available to me for my research thanks to doctor Zofia Rancewicz.