Page 36 - Bonhams September 12 2018 New York Japanese Works of Art

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MYŌCHIN MUNEYOSHI 明珍宗義
An Articulated Iron Model of a Spiny Lobster
伊勢海老自在鉄置物
Meiji era (1868–1912), late 19th–early 20th century
Made from numerous well-patinated hammered iron plates, invisibly
joined so that the body bends and the legs and whiskers move,
signed underneath the body with chiseled characters Nanajūsan-ō
Myōchin Muneyoshi kore o tsukuru 七十三翁明珍宗美作之 (Myōchin
Muneyoshi made this, aged 73)
Length fully extended 15 1/2 in. (39.5 cm)

$25,000 - 35,000
The Myōchin family was the most successful of the numerous
dynasties of professional armorers that originated in late-medieval
Japan. In the Edo period (1615-1868) the family opened branches
not just in the major cities but also in the chief towns of many
provincial fiefs where they turned out vast quantities of cuirasses,
helmets, face masks, and other components that were needed for
samurai armor. Myōchin craftsmen were highly accomplished in using
tiny rivets to join multiple iron plates, creating protection that was
both relatively light and highly flexible; over time, they repurposed
their skills to make ingenious and astonishingly lifelike articulated
models of snakes, fishes, crustaceans, and insects. While early
examples were purchased by the Myōchin family’s established senior
samurai clientele, during the Meiji era they caught the attention
of foreign buyers and earned praise from Japanese semi-official
commentators such as a writer for Bijutsu Gahō (The Magazine of
Art) who drew attention in 1894 to one example’s “ . . . aptitude .
. . in wrought or hammered iron . . . beautiful execution and tone
of color given to the material, alone, not to say anything about the
ingenious arrangement.”

The signature Muneyoshi is also found on an articulated model of a
snake from the Hull Grundy collection in the British Museum (inv. no.
HG.207) and on a snake in Tokyo National Museum (see http://www.
tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=573)

Reference
Bijutsu gahō 美術画報 (The Magazine of Art) October 1894

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