MEIJI PERIOD (CIRCA 1885)

Details

A Pair of Impressive Bronze Figures
Meiji Period (Circa 1885)
Of cast bronze with a patina ranging from dark brown to dark yellow, the stands and the implements held by the figures cast separately, one figure probably representing Ryujin, the Dragon King of the Sea, dressed in Chinese Tang-dynasty style military attire with a fierce expression, the left hand raised in an admonitory gesture and the right grasping a sceptre with a demon-mask finial, the other figure similarly dressed and holding a naginata [glaive or halberd] in his right hand, each with a cast seal Dainihon Horyusai Eiko iru [cast by Horyusai Eiko of Great Japan], slight old damage
30¼ x 29½in.(76.8 and 75.0cm.) high (2)

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Lot Essay

Although this artist is unrecorded, the style of the two figures reflects the same influences as the celebrated group of Susanoo no Mikoto receiving a sacred jewel from the sea-god Haneakarutama no Mikoto, in the Khalili collection, which dates from after 1881.1

1 Oliver Impey and Malcolm Fairley (eds.), The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Japanese Art (London, 1995), vol. 2, part 2, cat. no. 98.

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