Page 26 - The Meiji Aesthetic Christie's Hong Kong.pdf

3810
AN IRON ARTICULATED SCULPTURE OF A SNAKE
EDO PERIOD (19TH CENTURY), SIGNED KATSUHARU ZO (MADE BY MYOCHIN KATSUHARU; ACT. 19TH CENTURY)
The russet-iron snake constructed of numerous hammered plates jointed inside the body, the head incised with scales
and ftted with a hinged jaw opening to reveal a movable tongue, gilt eyes; signature on underside of jaw
55¿ in. (140 cm.) long

HK$480,000-650,000 US$62,000-83,000

LITERATURE
Kuo Hong-Sheng and Chang Yuan-Feng, chief eds., et al., Meiji no bi / Splendid Beauty: Illustrious Crafts of the Meiji
Period (Taipei: National Taiwan Normal University Research Center for Conservation of Cultural Relics, 2013), pp.
336-339.

Myochin-school artists in Echizen Province were renowned for their outstanding skill at forging and tempering
steel. Myochin Katsuharu (act. 19th century), whose name appears on the snake here, was one of the Echizen
Myochin artists. The amazing fexibility and fne patina of this work show the skillful techniques of Katsuharu.