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Lot Essay
According to documents within and labels on the wood storage box of the sculpture, it entered the collection of Emperor Meiji in 1896. An inscription on the box says it was exhibited and purchased by the emperor Meiji at the Chokokai (Japan Sculptor’s Society) exhibition in September 1896, the year the carver Shimamura Shunmei died. When the Meiji emperor died, it passed to his son, the succeeding Emperor Taisho. On September 9, 1914, the sculpture was presented to Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu, the third son of Emperor Taisho. It was given to an unnamed individual on November 4, 1987, eight months after Prince Takamatsu’s death on February 3 of that year.
Shimamura Shunmei was a highly skilled carver and founding member of the Nihon Chokokai, the Japan Sculptors’ Society. Shunmei also participated in Japan’s Domestic Industrial Exhibitions (Naikoku Kangyo hakurankai) between 1881 and 1895. His work was chosen for the Japanese pavilion at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Shimamura Shunmei was a highly skilled carver and founding member of the Nihon Chokokai, the Japan Sculptors’ Society. Shunmei also participated in Japan’s Domestic Industrial Exhibitions (Naikoku Kangyo hakurankai) between 1881 and 1895. His work was chosen for the Japanese pavilion at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.