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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

Moving up the spiritual ladder, you’ve got your straight out gods. Japan has always been a melting pot of religious beliefs, home to a multitude of characters chock full of raw mojo. As a Jew, I find polytheistic traditions tempting like forbidden fruit - my own beliefs seem colourless and uptight compared to the pantheons of old. If you’re going to believe arbitrarily in an invisible superhero, why not make it the whole Justice League, rather than just boring old Superman. Japan seems to have held on to its pantheistic beliefs far longer than a country apparently so filled with happy cellphone jockeys should be, and I guess that’s part of the magic of the place.

The two gods below seem to be popular guys, one a great example of Japan’s ready absorption of Chinese mythology, and another a homegrown and very Japanese dude. The first god, Fukurokuju, is one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japanese mythology, and is an Japanese amalgamation of the Chinese Three Star Gods. Both of the examples below were described as “Gods of Wisdom”, but I’ve found more references online to him as a god of “Happiness, Wealth and Longevity”.

The second god is Ryujin, who’s technically both a god and a dragon, which is mythological for double badass. Ryujin. like most other sea gods is a big intervener, using his proto-Pokemonesque collection of “Tide Jewels” to intervene in human affairs as it suits him. He may be, or may not be, the grandfather of the first emperor of Japan, depending on what source you are reading.
So here they are, two gods who are popular subjects for netsuke. One of the things that may be telling is that both of these gods are minor figures in the Japanese pantheon and that I haven’t seen any real examples of the core gods of the pantheon, such as the creator gods Izanagi and Izanami, nor of the widely worshiped sun goddess Amatereasu. This leads me to think that the deities pictured below were considered more acceptable for casual wearing, or that they might have been exceptionally popular subjects due to their perceived power over daily aspects of human life. As always, all of my LACMA netsuke photos are in their Flicker set, and all of my netsuke images are in the Netsuke and Inro Flickr group.

The Netsuke

above - Fukurokuju: God of Wisdom - This guy always seems happy. I rather enjoy the idea of a god who is wise and happy. all to often in contemporary society we marry intellectual brilliance with unflappable stoicism. I like to think that the kind of wisdom and happiness that he represents is the joy of realising the meaninglessness of attachment to ideas, and that is the source of his laughter. The label is here.

above - Fukurokuju: God of Wisdom - This is a more serious presentation of Fukurokuju than the first example. The exaggeration of the cranium on this example is much less controlled, and seems humorous to me, despite the fact that this example seems much more serious than the first. Look at the brow line on this one - the emotional context of the face almost suggests a sense of intent, or even anger. The label is here.

above - Ryujin: Ruler of Seas and Tides - This wood netsuke is carved with great style. There’s something cozy and loose about the details that gives the figure a great sense of consistency in its design. Ryujin is a dragon who can change shape into human form, but most of the depictions I’ve found seem to cast him either as a dragon with human features or a human with dragon features, as in this example. The label is here.

above - Ryujin: Ruler of Seas and Tides - Here we see a more aggressive Ryujin. He appears mostly human here, but there is a sort of dragon tail thing that comes off the back of his head. It’s really hard for me to speak to the quality of this piece, given that the pigment is so worn. Not my favourite stlye of carving, I guess. The label is here.

above - Ryujin: Ruler of Seas and Tides - Here is ryojin in a more dragon-like pose. He’s still mostly human, but the positioning of the body is such that he looks more sinuous. He’s also clearly holding what appears to be a jewel of some sort, probably one of his “Tide Jewels”. This is my favourite of the three Ryujin in this grouping, as the body language is really well done. The label is here.