Sunday, August 30, 2009
ANOTER MONKEY COLLECTOR....
WHO'S WHO
Meiji period (late 19th century), sealed Dai Nippon Genryusai Seishun zo
Cast in high relief with a frieze of animal heads in high relief and bodies in shallow relief: an elephant, stag, snarling tiger, wild boar, bison, ape and lion, the hooves forming the feet, details chiseled; the patina blackish brown with accents of reddish brown
19in. (48.3cm.) diameter; 9¾in. (24.7cm.) high
PASS ME THE HONNEY
Meiji period (late 19th century), signed Masaaki
The globular container iron set on three separately cast feet in the form of monkeys and applied with two additional monkeys that serve as the handles, the container also applied with shakudoand gilt wasps and fruiting branch and with wasps and nest on the opposite side, the domed cover applied with further gilded wasps, hammered with clouds, some pierced for the issuance of smoke, and fixed with a knop in the form of two monkeys at play; interior of the cover lined in silver and fitted with removable interior silver basin; inlaid gilt-metal seal in form of right half of lower signature character below signature chiseled on underside
ANOTHER BAT DAY
Tsuri-gōro or hanging incense burner in the form of a flying bat with half-folded wings. Of cast and cold-chiseled bronze, with a copper wire chain. Edo period, late 18th – early 19th century. With a period wood storage box, inscribed on the exterior of the lid: Kōro, Kōmori or Incense Burner, Bat (Form); and on the side of the box inscribed: Kōmori Kōro or Bat (Form) Incense Burner. Though bats were considered omens of good fortune in China, Edo period artists rarely sculpted them. By the late 19th and early 20th century, bats figure in paintings of the moon, and rarely in carved trays for sencha tea (c.f. Kagedo’s catalogue Breaking Light, numbers 59 – 62). Modeled with the quirky realism common to Edo period bronzes, this rare incense burner must have been commissioned by an eccentric and affluent literati of the samurai class. Finely chiseled details render the fur across the neck, detail the open teeth, and tiny, curling feet. The assembled chain is woven from very fine copper wire. With its tensed wings, it would have been seen wreathed in incense as if darting suddenly through clouds. |
1 5/8” high x 7 3/8” wide x 4 ½” long (dimensions of bat without hanging chain). |
THUMBS UP
Koro or incense burner in the form of a hare crouching and looking upwards, its ears pointedly alert, of cast and cold chiseled bronze. A cloud form hinges the lid across the back. Late Muromachi–Momoyama Period, 16th century. Probably admiring the moon, this hare has soft curving lines and extremely fine color. Bronze suiteki or water droppers in the form of rabbits with similarly erect ears were also cast in the 16th century |
8" high x 5 3/16" x 3 5 |
TIGERRRRRR
Okimono in the form of a snarling tiger, of cast and cold chiseled akagane bronze. Edo Period, mid 19th century. Edo Period depictions of tigers such as this mix the charm of the house cat which the Japanese knew firsthand with the ferocity of the larger but unfamiliar foreign beast |
6 5/8" high x 8.75" x |
DANCING BULL
OH MY DEER
BEAUTY QUEEN
5" high x 6.5" |
BIG BUNNY
Sunday, August 23, 2009
SINGING BUNNY
5 1/8” high x 7 ¾” long x 5 ½” wide.
MY PUPPY IS ON SHROOMS
10 1/8" high x 8 7/8" x 5.5".