Page 88 - Wolley & Wallace, July 1, 2020 Japanese Works of Art UK

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λ A JAPANESE TOKYO SCHOOL IVORY CARVING BY SHIMAMURA SHUNMEI (1853-1896), OKIMONO
MEIJI PERIOD, 19 CENTURY
TH
Depicting a mother and child, the beauty wearing a long kimono decorated with a design of chrysanthemums and brocade patterns, the back of the obi with
further flowers and fans, the toddler she holds on her shoulder smiling and stretching his hand towards her, the base signed Nihon Tokyo Shimamura Shunmei with
a square seal underneath, 28cm.
PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.
£200-300
Provenance: an English private collection, Wiltshire.
Cf. L Bordignon, The Golden Age of Japanese Okimono, pp.202-3 for another okimono by Shimamura Shunmei and p.288 for a short biography of the artist. The author
mentions his successful if short career (he died at 42 years old), and his award-winning contributions to Domestic Industrial Expositions and the World’s Columbian
Exhibition in Chicago (1893). He was also one of the founders of the Tokyo Sculptors’ Society. Pieces by Shunmei are recorded in the collection of Michael Tomkinson
(1841-1921) and at the Tokyo National Museum.

86 See paragraphs 4 & 5 of our conditions of business at the back of the catalogue for additional charges on the final hammer prices