LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

The motif of a crane perched upon the back of a turtle is symbolic of happiness, wisdom and long life. The present depiction is very similar to that of a Japanese candelabrum that was in the collection of P. F. von Siebold (d.1866), an image of which was reproduced in Nippon, t. IV, pl. IX. A stylized version of the theme was undoubtedly adapted by Antoine-Louis Barye when in 1850 he executed his charming group Cigogne posie sure une tortue (see Ministhre de la Culture et de la Communication, Le Japonisme, 1988, fig. 297).