Page 113 - Bonhams May 16, 2019 London Japanese Art

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A FINELY-CAST BRONZE OKIMONO OF A RAT all Japan aside from the ruling Tokugawa dynasty. In the very early
By Muroe Kichibei (1841-1903), Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1880 years of the Meiji era, government bureaucrats encouraged the
Naturalistically modelled with its head lowered and one front paw development of a metalworking industry in both cities, in particular
raised, its long tail curled round to the side, its dark-brown patinated by commissioning work for display at the Vienna Weltausstellung
bronze body rendered with minutely chiselled fur details, its eye inlaid (World Exposition) held in 1873. Following the success of Japanese
in shakudo, signed on the underside Muroe Kichibei saku within an metalwork at that great global event, Takaoka entrepreneurs set up
oval rectangular reserve; with a wood storage box inscribed outside private companies to capitalize on new opportunities for international
the lid Munetomo saku nezumi okimono [...] (Okimono of a rat made trade. The city remains to this day a major centre for the manufacture
by Munetomo [alternative name of Kichibei]), inside the lid attached of ornamental bronze.
with a paper slip inscribed with the artist’s biography, sealed Dokuan.
6.5cm x 15cm (2½in x 5 7/8in). (2). Like Suzuki Chokichi in Tokyo, Muroe Kichibei and his colleagues in
Takaoka and Kanazawa combined outstanding bronze-casting and
£18,000 - 20,000 bronze-finishing skills, honed by centuries creating Buddhist images
JPY2,600,000 - 2,900,000 complemented by the crafts of inlay and chiselling that had long been
US$24,000 - 26,000 an essential component of sword decoration. For a similar model of a
rat, also by Muroe Kichibei, see Meiji-ki Takaoka Doki Chokin Meisaku
Hozonkai (Association for the Preservation of Masterpieces of Meiji-Era
During the Edo period (1615–1868), the cities of Kanazawa in Kaga Bronze Vessels and Metalwork from Takaoka), Takaoka doki: Meiji-ki
Province (present-day Ishikawa Prefecture) and Takaoka in Etchu chokin meisakushu (Takaoka Bronzes: Collected Masterpieces
Province (Toyama Prefecture) developed as major artistic metalworking of Meiji-Era Metalwork). Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, 1985,
centres thanks to the patronage of the Maeda clan, the wealthiest in unpaginated.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. FINE JAPANESE ART | 111