I am very sorry to report the death of Reinhard Lohrberg. A long standing member of the INS and European Chapter and also a dear friend of mine. Reinhard died at the end of July following an illness which had plagued him for the past few years. He was 81 years old.
Reinhard lived in Hanover, Lower Saxony, where he was born during the Second World War. His father was killed in 1945 and he was raised by his mother. I recall Reinhard telling me that, at that time, life was very difficult for his mother. But despite that, Reinhard did well at school; he studied to become a legal advocate and worked for the municipality of Hannover.
My first meetings with Reinhard were at various netsuke events in the UK and Europe where we would chat about whatever was happening at the time and, invariably, of course, about Japanese art. Reinhard’s English was very good; my German considerably poorer! But it wasn’t until we discovered over dinner in Budapest that we had a common interest in bokuto that we became closer friends. We corresponded a lot on the subject of bokuto, and related matters – Reinhard really was a fount of knowledge and information on Japanese art, culture and history.
In 2019 Reinhard invited to me to spend a few days with him to view his collection, not only of bokuto, but also his wider collection of netsuke, inro and pipe cases. His apartment in Hannover was replete with Japanese art: he had an extremely fine, and large, collection; Reinhard’s eye was very good, matched also by his taste. Of all his excellent inro, netsuke and bokuto, it was his collection of pipe cases which really stood out and which, I believe, were his main interest. There is no doubt in my mind, that his large collection of pipe cases was worthy of a catalogue in its own right.
Reinhard was a private person but beneath, what could be thought of as a somewhat serious exterior, their was to be found a man of cheery good humour and kindness; he was also a very good host. He was an avid reader, particularly liking novels from the romantic period of English fiction – and I must admit this did surprise me somewhat!
The world of netsuke – and Japanese art in general – has lost a kind, knowledgeable and true gentleman. Reinhard was a good friend to those who knew him and we will miss him.
Peter Ayre