About Us
For the love of Netsuke.
Zebregs&Röell Netsuke probably has one of the largest stocks of easily accessible netsuke in in the world. All netsuke are of excellent quality and have a legit provenance and necessary paperwork. The collection is carefully researched and catalogued in close cooperation with our advisor Max Rutherston. By working closely together, we can offer a large variety of netsuke that can be shipped worldwide and an extensive collection of ivory netsuke for EU residents. With our young spirit and enthusiasm, backed by the impressive knowledge of Rutherston, you can also entrust us with the Netsuke you would like to sell.
Our Story
Zebregs&Röell is a gallery that specialises in art and antiques from far away shores, especially former Dutch trading posts across the globe. We have exhibited at PAN Amsterdam, Asian Art London and London Olympia.
The trade monopoly which the Dutch were granted in isolated Japan resulted in a special bond between the two countries and a love for Japanese art in the Netherlands. After Japan opened up to the world, following Commander Perry’s second expedition in 1854, the rest of the world gradually learnt about the wonders of Japanese art. An early development was a fascination for netsuke, which has persisted to this day.
We cater to the demand for fine netsuke with our carefully curated stock across a broad spectrum of subjects carved over some two hundred years, and in a wide price range. We believe that our inventory of Netsuke and other Japanese Art is one of the largest in the world.
Zebregs&Röell Netsuke is very much Dutch, which means business is transparent, accurate, punctual, highly client-friendly and, above all, trustworthy.
The advisor for Zebregs&Röell Netsuke is Japanese antiques-dealer Max Rutherston, who has specialised in Japanese works of art for twenty-eight years, and in netsuke for eighteen.
After a visit to Tokyo in 1990, he underwent a Damascene conversion and in 1992 joined Sotheby’s, again after a career in the paintings department, to work in the Japanese Department. After a year devoted almost exclusively to studying the Japanese language, he applied himself to learning about the art, working at Sotheby’s for another ten years, in due course becoming department director.
In 2002, he moved to Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London’s oldest Asian art gallery, to help manage the gallery and run the Japanese side of the business. Max left in 2010, and in 2013 established a gallery in Bury Street, St. James’s, London, concentrating on netsuke, inro, and other Japanese works of art. Max’s connoisseurship in his chosen field is widely respected.
He has lectured at home and abroad, and written a number of scholarly catalogues on netsuke and other Japanese works of art. In 2014, he was invited to assist Noriko Tsuchiya in the preparation of the British Museum’s publication ‘Netsuke:100 miniature masterpieces from Japan’.
We hope to offer collectors the netsuke of their dreams, and we invite you to browse our website or visit our Amsterdam gallery!
