Stumpted

[kissakai]

Hi

I bought this at a recent auction

Described as Kay Chu Japen Meijo 19 centuary 45mm heigh

I thought Kay Chu was the collectors name but looking at the mei I'm confused

I have The Index of Inro Artistes by E.A. Wragham and edited by Joe Earl. 1195 but can't find it

 

 

 

貝

(Kay) Kai, Akari, Arute, Ge, Getsu, Tsuki?

 

虫

Chu

 

 

 

 

 

[TETSUGENDO]

Grev,

 

A picture of the face of the piece could be helpful, the image may jog memory.  In addition, many references have miscellaneous, uncategorized, unknown, or unread sections that could be referenced.

 

-S-

[Ray Singer]

I believe an alternate reading is kaimushi.

[kissakai]

There you go - I do nat have any other images

 

 

[John A Stuart]

I think 貝虫 is referring to what the piece depicts, a type of snail maybe. Anyway, it would be one heck of a bad 'go'. John

[TETSUGENDO]

Picture is fine Grev, unfortunately nothing spring's immediately to mind, perhaps someone else will recognize it and know a source to look to.  Meanwhile, I'll check through some references and let you know if I find something.  Why don't you post your query on the International Netsuke Society forum?

 

-S-

p.s.- bad "Go", funny John.

[kissakai]

I wondered if there would be any puns

You have ti register for the International Netsuke Society forum to ask a question and as this is my one and only netsuke it seemed a waste of time

I wondered if anyone here is a member and could ask for me

[kissakai]

As suggested I added my post to the specialist message board

These are the relies:

 

 

From the International Netsuke society

 

Three replies:

 

1) Your netsuke reads KAICHU but unfortunately this is a carver I have no knowledge of - possibly an unrecorded artist.

 

2) Ostracod is the meaning. The reading is Kaimushi in general, in the wider world.

 

Netsuke. Kaichū. For a Netsuke artist to choose this name is unusual to say the least. The sound of Kaichu alone suggests Anisakis, an intestinal parasite. The written character 貝 is a shell, and 虫 is an insect, so 'shelled insect'. Almost as if this is a parody. 貝 can be spelled Kai (like bye, hi, die, etc., as long as you do not pronounce it like the name Kay in English. Whoever wrote the name in Roman letters on that tag was nearly right). 

 

What can we learn from it? Hmmm... It looks about the right size and shape for a Netsuke, and it does have Himotoshi string holes. We have an auction house description. Looking at other pieces of theirs, do you trust their assessments? Further questions for me personally, without taking it in hand, would be 'why has the surface been treated like this?', 'how old is it?', and 'was this signature added later, and if so by whom and why'?

 

3) 楽虫 There is a modern Netsuke artist called Rakuchu, or playful insect/worm. I wonder if there is some conscious link between the two ‘mushi’ Artists?

 

Link in Japanese:

 

http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~mystudy/kik... kite34.htm

 

I wonder if anyone can add anything from the replies

 

 

Grev

[SteveM]

I think I am at a dead end with this one. There is no doubt the item depicts a snail, variously translated as 蝸牛 (katatsumuri), or でんでん虫 (dendenmushi). In everyday adult life, at least here in Tokyo, the word katatsumuri is used. If you have children you might use the word dendenmushi because it is easy for children to remember - "mushi" being the catchall word for any kind of bug. But even when my kid was small we used the word katatsumuri, because it was a word in a children's song that probably every parent sings to their kid. The dictionary says it is possible to read 蝸牛 just as onyomi of kagyū, but I have never heard this used. 

 

As above, the kanji for snail is made up of two characters: 蝸牛. The first is the unique kanji 蝸, which itself is made up of the radical 虫 (mushi, or "bug" as I mentioned before), and the root 咼, which is used in the kanji for swirl or whirlpool 渦. The second kanji is 牛 which is the kanji for cow, and in the case of this compound word it is an association with the antennae of the snail. So very loosely interpreted, you could say the kanji together mean the bug with the swirl who also has horns. 

 

When I first looked at this I thought 貝虫 must be an alternative form of snail in Japanese, or maybe an old, outdated word. Or, it might be pointing to a unique kind of snail that the netsuke is depicting - a snail particular to a locale or a season or some other deep layer of Japanese culture that is opaque at first, and only becomes apparent after digging deep in the resources. 

 

But after digging a bit I have come up empty handed, and now I'm wondering if, despite the seemingly obvious shell + bug combination, it actually is a pun or a funny art name, whose humor would have been obvious to 19th century Japanese, but is now lost to us. The "go" in the post above (楽虫) leads me to start thinking of this possibility. As if perhaps 虫 was a kanji particular to a certain artist's apprentices, and in this case the apprentice thought, "OK, I'm stuck with this kanji for a while, I might as well have some fun with it". 

[TETSUGENDO]

Speaking of dead ends, after digging through many standard reference sources, esoteric ones, sales and exhibition  catalogs, I have come up empty handed.  So, if after all the efforts put forth here, by so many, could not produce a single recorded example...it is likely that this maker has not been noted until now.  Without something concrete, all is, unfortunately, reduced to speculation.

 

-S-

[kissakai]

Again you have done a buckek full of work that I have appreciated

I assune the swirl term refers to the spiral of the shell

I need to see it hand to see if I can see any dreaded Dremel marks

[kissakai]

Hi

Final info from the auction house

 

 

Dear Mr. Cooke,

 

To come back on your items that where not shipped, they should be out shortly as I already saw the shipper working with them.

 

Regarding the Netsuke.

I had another chat with my colleague.

The signature was fully based on the sellers information, as also writing on the sticker that was on the netsuke.

Like said, we already sold more than a few thousand netsuke for him and we know he mostly bought at respected dealer and auctions only.

 

We do not have the inhouse knowledge to fully judge the signature if it is original and if the piece is by that artist.

 

We do confirm the age of the netsuke and we stand by it that it is from the Meiji period, Cites should therefore not be needed if you keep our catalogue description with it.

 

Once we I received the tracking code from the shipper I will forward it to you.

 

 

 

Kind regards,

 

Robin Peters
Zeeuws Veilinghuis - Middelburg

 

 

A couple of comments from the Netsuke message board

 

Netsuke. Kaichū. For a Netsuke artist to choose this name is unusual to say the least. The sound of Kaichu alone suggests Anisakis, an intestinal parasite. The written character 貝 is a shell, and 虫 is an insect, so 'shelled insect'. Almost as if this is a parody. 貝 can be spelled Kai (like bye, hi, die, etc., as long as you do not pronounce it like the name Kay in English. Whoever wrote the name in Roman letters on that tag was nearly right). 

 

What can we learn from it? Hmmm... It looks about the right size and shape for a Netsuke, and it does have Himotoshi string holes. We have an auction house description. Looking at other pieces of theirs, do you trust their assessments? Further questions for me personally, without taking it in hand, would be 'why has the surface been treated like this?', 'how old is it?', and 'was this signature added later, and if so by whom and why'?

 

Could the signature actually be a (bad) rendition of 月虫 ? I read that Getchu/Getsuchu was an 18-century carver specialized in wood (thus, most likely not the author of this one...)

 

 

Grev

[TETSUGENDO]

Grev,

 

Frustratingly, still stuck firmly in the mud, still no useful information.  The Getchu attribution, as you suspect is just another "red herring".......absolutely no connection whatsoever.  I suspect having it in hand will tell a lot about it's true nature, interested in hearing your firsthand impressions.

 

-S-