Page 16 - Bonhams Royal Collection Fine Japanese Art London Nov. 2019

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TANAKA TADAYOSHI 田中唯吉
(ALSO KNOWN AS MUNEYOSHI 宗義, DIED 1950)
IRON ARTICULATED MODEL OF A SNAKE
大蛇自在鉄置物
Taisho era (1912–1926), circa 1915

A model of a large snake, finely constructed from numerous russet-iron A pupil of Takase Kōzan, a celebrated maker of articulated animals,
hammered plates with hidden joints inside the body, the head incised Tanaka Tadayoshi is best known for superb dragons, snakes,
with scales and fitted with a hinged jaw opening to reveal a movable shachihoko (dragon fish), and other creatures made during the first half
tongue, gilt eyes; signed on the underside of the jaw Muneyoshi 宗義 of the 20th century; see Harada 2016, p.225.

162.9cm (64⅛in) long Of all the categories of late Edo-period and Meiji-era artefact eagerly
collected outside Japan over the last 150 years, articulated animals
With wood storage box (2) have left the least trace of documentary evidence concerning their
background and development. Even the Japanese word for them,
Provenance: jizai or jizai okimono, appears to be a post-Edo term. Yet regardless
Christie’s New York, 18 April 2018, lot 111 of their obscure origins, these displays of Asian dexterity perfectly
matched trends in Western Orientalist taste in the closing decades
£100,000 - 150,000 of the nineteenth century. In Europe, they were first highlighted in the
JPY13,000,000 - 19,000,000 Parisian journal Le Japon Artistique (1888-1891), which reproduced
US$120,000 - 180,000 an articulated frog in three different positions and described it in detail.
They were not reintroduced to Japanese audiences, however, until
October 1983, when several examples were displayed in the special
exhibition Nihon no kinko (Japanese Metalwork) held at Tokyo National
Museum.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
14 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.