By the time this edition of Euronetsuke pops through your letterbox some of you will have already enjoyed the Euronetsuke group visit to Brussels, which has proved very popular. We were especially happy to have been joined by The INS president Chip Lutton, from California and Yukari Yoshida from Tokyo. Although we are called Euronetsuke our membership is spread worldwide.
Further Euronetsuke events are being discussed, with planning in the pipeline. The next event will be in London when Dore and Rees are kindly hosting a private viewing of the Sweet collection of netsuke and lacquer on the afternoon of Monday 3rd November at Asia House.
There will be a talk on Conserving Historical Artefacts from 2.00-2.45pm, a talk on the Sweet collection from 3.00-4.00pm, followed by refreshments and a chance to meet Jonathan and Jeremy Sweet and then a private handling session from 5.00-6.00pm. Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP.
We are particularly grateful to Tsuda Suketomo for allowing us to use his article from the Japanese netsuke society’s journal. Mr Tsuda is able to offer us fascinating insights into Sukenaga’s work and personality. After help from different quarters in translating the article (with special thanks to Zen Nishida), we must thank Masanori Watanabe for bringing it all together so that we can be confident of its accuracy.
Thanks to the design skills of the team at Creative Wisdom, the successful launch of our new website www.euronetsuke.org is available to all members. You can find news, a renewal and subscription page there, as well as digital copies of back issues. Adrian Franks of Creative has been designing the Euronetsuke journal for some time now and has recently taken over the production the INS journal too. He has a good understanding of netsuke and we felt that Creative offered good value.
We are delighted to welcome Pietro Slavich to the Euronetsuke committee. Many of you will have met Pietro at netsuke conventions and events. A netsuke collector and enthusiast, he engages very actively with social media and with Asian art societies in Paris, where he is based. We are looking forward to his input to our social media coverage and hopefully we will be able to schedule some Euronetsuke events in France with his help.
Pietro Slavich lives in Paris, where he works as a researcher in particle physics. Despite a long-standing interest in Japanese art and culture he is a relative newcomer to the netsuke world, having started his collection only in 2019. His modest budget leads him to hunt for pieces of reasonable quality and originality at the lower end of the netsuke market. Joining the INS forum and attending the Paris convention gave an early boost to his passion, and he remains a firm believer in the power of social networks to spread recognition and understanding of our little corner of the art world.”
A sad note to finish on, especially for those of us of longer standing in the netsuke world; we are sorry to report the passing of Lee Moss, the indomitable and ever-delightful wife of Geoffrey Moss and mother of Paul. She was just shy of her 100th birthday. Our condolences go to the Moss family.
Rosemary Bandini
Pietro Slavich