MY PUPPY IS ON SHROOMS

Koro or incense burner in the form of a seated mastiff puppy, of cast and cold chiseled akaganebronze. An inscription chiseled on the reverse reads: Oba Zenjiro Yoshitsugu Saku or Made by Oba Zenjiro Yoshitsugu. Early Edo Period, 17th century.

This incense burner is modeled after a kara inu or foreign dog popular among the upper classes at the beginning of the 17th century.

10 1/8" high x 8 7/8" x 5.5".

BURNING DOGY

Koro or incense burner in the form of a seated hound wearing a bell on a cord, of cast and cold chiseled yellow bronze. Early Edo Period, 17th century.
From the Azuchi-Momoyama into the Early Edo Period, it became fashionable for Daimyo to keep large numbers ofkara inu or foreign dogs of both the mastiff and hound types. Imported from the continent and from Europe many times, these foreign breeds were characterized by large bodies and dropped ears. Kept for both ornamental and hunting purposes,kara inu are depicted in byobu or decorative screens of the period but rarely became subjects for bronzes such as thiskoro. In the 19th century dogs became a popular subject in Japanese art, but the later depictions exclusively focus on native Japanese breeds such as the Akita inu or the imported Pekinese variety fashionable during Meiji.

9 3/8" high x 6.5" x 4.5".