Japanese Art Dealers Rutherston & Bandini Cause A Stir With A
Unique Major Exhibition of Japanese Antique Masks
 Possibly the first major exhibition of Japanese antique Noh Masks in this country. Rutherston & Bandini have assembled a truly impressive collection of Japanese Antique masks for this exhibition. The rarest and most valuable Noh masks are not held in museums even in Japan, but rather in the private collections of the various “heads” of Noh schools; these treasures are usually only shown to a select few and only taken out for performance on the special occasions.
London, UK. April 10, 2012
Rutherston & Bandini today announced an exhibition of Japanese Antiques entitled Japanese Noh, Kyôgen and Kagura Masks. This exhibition will run from May 14th until June 29th, 2012. These superb examples of Japanese art will be on display at their London gallery (Rutherston & Bandini, 5 Georgian House, 10 Bury Street, London SW1Y 6AA).
Japanese Art Exhibition Overview
 At the core of the exhibition is a private German collection of masks, at least some of which may well have come from the Toyama daimyō family and passed briefly through the hands of the legendary Japanese dealer based in Paris Tadamasa Hayashi, as well as through the Berlin Asian Art Museum over 100 years ago. These have been supplemented by the same number of masks from other collections, some with known Japanese provenance. The masks in the exhibition form a good representative selection of types (whether fiercely demonic, melancholic, serene or jocund) and have been chosen for their quality of execution and for condition. These antique Japanese masks range in date from around 1500 to 1850. The organisers are not aware of any such exhibition of Japanese Art having been held previously by a gallery in London.
There are seemingly no records that such an exhibition has ever been held in London in either a commercial gallery or museum, so it may well be a first. Certainly this offers a rare opportunity to view a unique collection of Japanese antiques not previously displayed publicly anywhere.
A printed and fully illustrated catalogue of the exhibition will be available for order from the gallery. This catalogue will also be viewable from early May at the Rutherston & Bandini Japanese Art Gallery website
Exhibition of Japanese Art Organisers
Rutherston & Bandini are specialist dealers in Japanese Antiques and works of art, principally netsuke and inro, but including antique Japanese sword fittings, ceramics and lacquerware. Rutherston & Bandini was founded in late 2010 and are globally recognized experts in Japanese art and antiques. The Gallery organizes at least two exhibitions of Japanese Art every year.
The current catalogue of Japanese antique Netsuke, Ojime and Lacquer is available for viewing and free download at their Japanese Art Blog. The exhibition will be open by appointment from Monday to Friday. Appointments can be made by contacting the organisers through their website contact form or by telephone (see details below).
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Some of the more eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that various netsuke in Szechenyi sale at Bonham’s, which I had attributed to the Osaka school in my book Shishi and Other Netsuke, were classified as Kyoto work by Neil Davey.
I am speaking in particular about lots 11 and 14. A sneak preview of Douglas Wright’s auction report in the forthcoming issue of the issue confirms that Doug also favours the Kyoto tag.
Now, in front of these two giants of the netsuke world I still feel like a ‘new girl’, even though its been over 30 years. It is enough to say that I have enormous respect for both Neil and Doug. However, I do disagree on this point. I discussed it with Neil before the sale, and we still agreed to disagree, although I wasn’t alone in my opinion, with other ‘believers’ agreeing with me.
Neil and I particularly discussed number 14, the record-breaking creature which I have always known as the ‘spaghetti shishi’ because its floppy limbs remind me of bendy boiled pasta.
There is no doubting the strength of the carvings and the force of the creatures depicted is apparent. Douglas associates such power with Kyoto work. Still it seems to me to have a different quality from the work of the acknowledged Kyoto masters, which do not have this “rococo” feel to them.The soft rear leg, raised to scratch at its ear is loose and limp at the wrist, extending up to the richly cascading curls of its opulent mane. The luxuriant tresses of its tail swirl up around its haunch like foaming waves, in a richness of detail and flamboyance. It makes me think of the qualities of the Garaku shishi and cub which are now in the Kurstin collection , illustrated here. The raised forepaw displays the same slackness in the wrist, contrasting with the magisterial power of its body. Another feature which would seem to point to Osaka work is the distinctive tufts of hair which cap the feet above the toes and which can also be seen in Gechu’s work. I have never seen this on a Kyoto netsuke.
Neil listened to my arguments but was unconvinced. He later discussed it further with a collector. Ultimately he decided that perhaps it would be better to simply refer to them as the work of Kansai artists, thus encompassing both cities. Of course we like to imagine that each area was self-contained and that carvers didn’t see other work, but the very fact that the Soken Kisho tells us that Tomotada’s oxen were most popular in the Kanto area (Edo/Tokyo) is a clear illustration that fashion in netsuke was in no way confined to the small area of their creation.
I hope I have raised an interesting point of discussion here and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
RB
Rutherston & Bandini Ltd is a business dedicated to Japanese art in all its forms, but specialising in netsuke, inro, lacquer, sword fittings and ceramics.
Max Rutherston and Rosemary Bandini, two veterans of Sotheby’s and of the Japanese art world, joined forces in December 2010, opening their first gallery in the tranquil surroundings of Georgian House, in London’s St. James’s. Continue reading Rutherston & Bandini Ltd
by Liz Knight, Orientations
January 2011 saw the opening of a new Japanese art business in London, Rutherston and Bandini. Two veterans of Sotheby’s and the Japanese art scene, Max Rutherston and Rosemary Bandini, join forces in this venture. Continue reading Interview with Rosemary Bandini and Max Rutherston
We are pleased to be participating in the Country Life – LAPADA Object of the Year competition 2011, a showcase for some of LAPADA members’ finest objects and works of art. Our submitted object, a large ivory netsuke of a seated rat, attributed to Masanao of Kyoto (circa 1780), has been shortlisted amongst the finalists.
Described on the LAPADA website as “LAPADA members between them specialise in a very wide range of works of art from antiquities to contemporary fine art. Through this competition the Association aims to illustrate the breadth and depth of its members’ expertise and to show visitors to this site a tempting selection of some of their finest pieces, all of which are available to buy unless otherwise indicated. You can also visit LAPADA’s main website www.lapada.org to find all its members, with links to their own websites, and a great deal of further information of interest to all lovers and collectors of works of art, antiques and paintings.”
WHAT IS LAPADA
The golden chandelier symbol displayed in a window or at a fair, is the sign of membership of LAPADA, the Association of Art & Antiques Dealers. Since its inception in 1974, LAPADA’s membership has grown to over 600 members making it the largest association of professional art and antiques dealers in the United Kingdom. Although the majority of its membership is UK based, LAPADA also currently has 50 members in 16 other countries. Membership is only open to those who meet the Association’s requirements as to experience, quality of stock and knowledge of their subject. Between them, members cover virtually every discipline from antiquities to contemporary fine art. Continue reading Lapada – Country Life Object of the Year 2011
We are delighted to be participating in the International Netsuke Society Convention 2011 where we will be exhibiting in the Royal Suite dealer room. A full colour catalogue of a selection of our netsuke will be available.
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Possibly the first major exhibition of Japanese antique Noh Masks in this country. Rutherston & Bandini have assembled a truly impressive collection of Japanese Antique masks for this exhibition. The rarest and most valuable Noh masks are not held in museums even in Japan, but rather in the private collections of the various “heads” of Noh schools; these treasures are usually only shown to a select few and only taken out for performance on the special occasions.
At the core of the exhibition is a private German collection of masks, at least some of which may well have come from the Toyama daimyō family and passed briefly through the hands of the legendary Japanese dealer based in Paris Tadamasa Hayashi, as well as through the Berlin Asian Art Museum over 100 years ago. These have been supplemented by the same number of masks from other collections, some with known Japanese provenance. The masks in the exhibition form a good representative selection of types (whether fiercely demonic, melancholic, serene or jocund) and have been chosen for their quality of execution and for condition. These antique Japanese masks range in date from around 1500 to 1850. The organisers are not aware of any such exhibition of Japanese Art having been held previously by a gallery in London.
