Welcome to my website
My name is Ko Baas. I live in the northern part of the Netherlands.
On this site I tell you something about my hobby, which is carving netsuke.
Several years ago I bought an old small carving on a flea market without knowing
what it was. At home I discovered it was a netsuke. I liked it so much I wanted
more of them.
Soon I realized that I couldn't afford good antique netsuke. Also I learned that
there are a lot of cheap Chinese copies for sale. But I didn't like those.
So one day I began carving them myself.
I carve netsuke since 1997.
I work at my desk in the living room almost every evening.
Sometimes I use pictures of old netsuke from books as examples.
Or I make a netsuke of my own design in the Japanese style.
At first I just used a whittling knife but I soon realized that I needed more tools.
So I bought some small gouges and V-tools and adapted them for carving small objects.
I also made my own tools from dental instruments.
I try to make the netsuke in the old tradition so that they could be used as
functional objects. The netsuke I make have to be a pleasure to handle. I mainly
use boxwood. Also I like to work with different materials like stag antler,
mammoth ivory, horn and teeth.
Since beginning 2013 I don't take commissions any more. I was only carving for
others and wasn't happy with that. I only want to carve for my self in the
future. So no deadlines and only subjects I like.
Last update July 13, 2022
Added a new Kirin netsuke and another boxwood Opinel knife modification.
