A HAMMERED IRON MODEL OF A HARE

MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY), SIGNED SOBI (YAMADA SOBI; 1871-1916)

Details

A HAMMERED IRON MODEL OF A HARE
MEIJI PERIOD (LATE 19TH CENTURY), SIGNED SOBI (YAMADA SOBI; 1871-1916)
The seated hare finely hammered from a sheet of iron, signature on base
7 ½ in. (19.1 cm.) long
With an original wood box titled tetsu tsuiki usagi (hammered iron hare) and signed Sobi saku, sealed Yamada Sobi

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. 228-229.

Exhibited

Preparatory Office of the National Headquarters of Taiwan Traditional Arts, “Japan Arts of Meiji Period; Asia-Pacific Traditional Arts Festival Special Exhibition.” 2011.7.8-2012.1.8. cat. pp. 228-229.
“Meiji Kogei: Amazing Japanese Art,” cat. no. 86, shown at the following venues:
Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku Bijutsukan (Tokyo University of the Arts Museum), 2016.9.7-10.30.
Hosomi Bijutsukan (Hosomi Museum, Kyoto), 2016.11.12-12.25.
Kawagoe Shiritsu Bijutsukan (Kawagoe City Art Museum), 2017.4.22-6.11.

Brought to you by

Takaaki Murakami

tmurakami@christies.com 212 636 2158

Lot Essay

Yamada Sobi is the son of Yamada Munemitsu (?-1908), a ninth-generation armorer, who learned metal-hammering in a Myochin-school studio. He was particularly skilled at the technique of tetsu uchidashi (hammered iron) for producing three-dimensional, sculptural works from a single ingot of iron. He participated in many exhibitions and received thirty-five prizes at national and international expositions, including the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, 1905 Belgium World Exposition and 1909 Seattle World Exposition.
He was under consideration as Artist to the Imperial Household (Teishitsu gigeiin) but he died before the announcement of these designations.

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