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I routinely find excuse/opportunity to visit the Raymond and Frances Bushell Collection of netsuke in the Japanese Pavilion at LACMA.  What could easily be an extremely static collection is always presented in a new way.  There are 836 pieces in the collection, which are shown on a rotating basis, with only 150 on display at any given time.  I’ve been visiting the collection regularly for the past two years, and something new is always on view.

Most of the netsuke in the collection is from the 18th - 19th Centuries, but there are examples of pieces from the 20th Century, some as recent as the late 70’s including two of the pieces below, which were made in 1978.  I recently rushed through and photographed a number of pieces, but I wanted to separate the three below, as they are all contemporary examples, and in two cases, are extremely unusual subjects.  All of the pieces below were made by Masatoshi, also known as Nakamura Tokisada, who, according to Raymond Bushell’s NY Times obituary, received patronage from Bushell for much of his career, and who’s works are well represented in the collection.  A search for Masatoshi on LACMA’s site reveals three pages of works.  Bushell also wrote a book, The Art of Netsuke Carving, with Masatoshi, which I’m hoping to see arriving in my mailbox soon.

Above - Kappa with Cucumbers in Head Bowl, boxwood with inlays, December 1978 - Possibly the strangest item in the collection, I hardly know what to say about this image, other than .  A kappa is a Japanese water spirit, and the bowl-top head is a normal feature for one.  Kappa are really colourful creatures, and all sorts of fairy behavior is attributed to them, from gremlin-like antics to helper-spirit activity.  According to Wikipedia, the only food they like more than small children (who’s life force they suck out through the anus) are cucumbers, hence this guy’s personal stash.  Here’s a rear view and the label for reference.

Above - Biron: Monster Made of Jelly, ivory with staining and black coral inlays, 1978 - I have no idea what was going on in 1978 that drove Masatoshi to go off the deep end, in terms of traditional netsuke subject matter, but I’m glad he did.  No amount of Googling has revealed the nature of this little guy. Label is here.

Above - Baku: Monster Who Eats Nightmares, ivory with staining and sumi - Baku seems to be a very popular subject for netsuke.  He’s adorable, yet tough, here combining Pillsbury Doughboy-like cuteness with the attitude of a watchful sentinel.  I wrote a whole post on Baku related netsuke in LACMA’s collection back in January of 2007.   Label is here.

Technorati Tags: LACMA, cucumbers, Kappa, Japanese art, netuske, sculpture, museum, Raymond and Frances Bushell Collection, Masatoshi, Nakamura Tokisada, monster, folklore, Baku, Nightmares, spirit, Biron, jelly, art