The Netsuke Handbook: Ueda Reikichi

In recent years a number of books have appeared in Western languages on the fascinating miniature sculptures of Japan called netsuke. Oddly enough, all these have been written by Occidentals, most of whom have drawn heavily - with varying degrees of accuracy - upon the research of Japanese experts. High time it is, then that the leading Japanese authority, Ueda Reikichi, be allowed to speak for himself. Ever since its Japanese publication in 1943, his Netsuke no Kenkyu has been recognized as a definitive work in the field. In adapting this valuable study from the Japanese and illustrating it profusely with new photographs, Raymond Bushell has performed a singular service for netsuke aficionados throughout the world. Netsuke have long exerted an irresistible attraction for Occidental collectors. These tiny carvings, principally in ivory and wood, are distinguished by a charm of conception and an attention to detail that frequently make them the equal of sculpture on a grander scale. Yet they were originally utilitarian objects designed to serve as pendants or toggles to support tobacco pouches, medicine boxes, and similar items suspended by a cord from the obi. In compiling his handbook, Ueda engaged in exhaustive research that took him not only into the examination of thousands of individual netsuke but also into such areas as the history of the netsuke, the great variety of materials used by the carvers, the regional characteristics of the netsuke, and the biographical facts concerning no fewer than 1,342 netsuke carvers. This biographical information, arranged in concise and readily digestible form, constitutes the second part of the volume and, for collectors, the most valuable part, for it includes not only the characters for the real and the art names of the carvers but also a large number of facsimile signatures by which the various carvers may be identified.

Raymond Bushell, attorney, collector, and netsuke authority, is known to netsuke collectors for his adaptation into English of "The Netsuke Handbook of Ueda Reikichi, "an important work on the subject. He is the author of "The Wonderful World of Netsuke, An Introduction to Netsuke, Netsuke Familiar and Unfamiliar, The Inro Handbook, The Art of Netsuke Carving, "and" Collectors' Netsuke. "He is also a frequent contributor of articles to" Arts of Asia, The Journal of International Netsuke Collectors," and "The Netsuke Kenkyukai Study Journal." He arrived in Japan with the American occupation forces in 1945 and lived there until 1990 practicing law, collecting, and studying netsuke, inro, and sword furnishings.