A netsuke is small enough for a fist, and often made of a material that is a legal question today. Wood, lacquer, and bone sit in the same case and do not follow the same law. In the overview Security for collectors and in the text on ivory and CITES, the separation comes before the certified safe.

The legal position first

Ivory and some other animal materials, you may not simply buy, sell, or take across a border. Whether your piece has an exception is written on papers, not in the age you think you see on it. Wood, lacquer, and newer materials are a different subject. You identify the material before you store and before you buy. This text is not a trade guide.

Theft and decay

Carrying them off is easy. Light fades lacquer, dryness cracks wood, damp loosens glue. You store them dark and stable, without the pieces knocking against each other. The pieces backed by papers sit in the cabinet, the papers in the document cabinet.

What you write down

The material in your own words and, if needed, after a specialist identification. Dimensions, motif, provenance, proof. A photo from every side, including the two holes that belong to the piece. If a paper is missing for an ivory piece, you ask the competent office before you pass it on.