Gechu

Gechu, also Gechū, (active 18th century) was a Japanese sculptor. His dates of birth and death are not known.

Shaggy dog and pup, signed Gechu

Little is known about Gechu's life, he is primarily known through his works, in particular netsuke. He was an Osaka School style artist, and is known to have sculpted in ivory. For many years he was thought to have lived in Osaka though recently it has been suggested that he may well have been domiciled in Satsuma Province on the island of Kyushu.[1]

His most celebrated netsuke, upon which many attributions to Gechu are based, an ivory of a shaggy dog and pup, was sold at the last auction of the M. T. Hindson collection on 23 June 1969. This supreme masterpiece of the art form was the favourite netsuke of the pianist Julius Katchen and he was determined to purchase it for his collection. Sadly he died a few months before the sale and his widow, Arlette, is said to have bid for and bought it in his memory. When sold at Bonhams in 2016, the work achieved the second highest price ever for a netsuke at auction.[2]

Of this work, Frederick Meinertzhagen remarks in his Card Index [3],

Curious and grotesque figure of a Bitch with stylised treatment of the hair, sitting up and playing with her pup. The eyes of both gilt. The "himotoshi" openings on the animals' left side. Signed under the left leg Gechu. An outstandingly fine netsuke dating from well back in the 18th century, showing all the character, power and free treatment of the period. A somewhat comparable figure of a bitch and pup signed Garaku is in the V. and A. Museum and it maybe that there is significance in the fact that the first character Ge lacks a stroke, can be read as ge or ga

— Frederick Meinertzhagen, The Meinertzhagen card index

Two netsuke attributed to Gechu reside at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.[4]

  1. "Alain Ducros, Satsuma Ivory Netsuke, INSJ, vol.36, no.2, Summer 2016, pp.20-29".
  2. "Gechu article at Bonhams". Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  3. Meinertzhagen, Frederick (1986). MCI, the Meinertzhagen card index on netsuke in the archives of the British Museum. A.R. Liss. ISBN 0845117998.
  4. "Gechu listing at LACMA". Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  • Bushell, Raymond. Netsuke Familiar and Unfamiliar: New Principles for Collecting. New York: Weatherhill, 1975.
  • Bushell, Raymond. An Exhibition of Netsuke from the Raymond Bushell Collection. Tokyo: Mikimoto World Jewelers, 1979.
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