Page 46 - 2021 March 16th Japanese and Korean Art, Christie's New York City
P. 46
28 MITSUTA HARUO (B. 1980)
Koganegumo (Argiope amoena)
The copper, bronze and brass articulated
sculpture of a spider finely constructed of
numerous hammered parts jointed togather
with movable limbs and body
2 in. (5.1 cm.) wide
With original wood box sealed Haru
$2,000-3,000
This articulated sculpture of a spider appears to be very
unique. In Chinese characters, “spider” is usually written
蜘蛛 , but there is one type of red spider that is written
喜子, which literally means “little joy,” hence the spider
has joyful connotations. Because the first character
of “spider” is a homophone in Chinese of zhi and in
Japanese “chi,” “to know” 知, when a spider appears it is
interpreted as a harbinger of fortuitous events.
