AN IRON ARTICULATED SCULPTURE OF A CROW
AN IRON ARTICULATED SCULPTURE OF A CROW
AN IRON ARTICULATED SCULPTURE OF A CROW
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AN IRON ARTICULATED SCULPTURE OF A CROW
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AN IRON ARTICULATED SCULPTURE OF A CROW

EDO PERIOD (19TH CENTURY), SIGNED MYOCHIN MUNEHARU

Details
AN IRON ARTICULATED SCULPTURE OF A CROW
EDO PERIOD (19TH CENTURY), SIGNED MYOCHIN MUNEHARU
The iron crow constructed of numerous hammered plates jointed inside the body, the beak opens, the neck and wings move, the eyes, beak, limbs embellished with gilt, the details of feathers finely chiseled, the incised signature on underside
16 1⁄8 in. (41 cm.) long
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. 312-14.
Exhibited
“Meiji Kogei: Amazing Japanese Art,” shown at the following venues: Tokyo University of the Arts Museum, 2016.9.7-10.30. Hosomi Museum, Kyoto, 2016.11.12-12.25. Kawagoe City Art Museum, 2017.4.22-6.11. cat. no. 8.

Brought to you by

Takaaki Murakami (村上高明)
Takaaki Murakami (村上高明) Vice President, Specialist and Head of Department | Korean Art

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Lot Essay

Ingenious movable sculptures of animals are the invention of Japanese metalsmiths trained in the manufacture of samurai armor. The Myochin family of armorers is credited with the first sculptures of this type in the eighteenth century. In relative peacetime, the demand for arms and armor, except for display purposes, had slowed. To meet the changes in demand, the Myochin expanded their repertoire into metalwork of a decorative and symbolic nature. Some see these articulated models as the culmination of the armorer’s skill and imagination. Known as jizai okimono, literally “free display objects”, these intricate sculptures are a unique genre of Japanese sculptural art.
The restoration of the Japanese emperor in 1868 and the dismantling of the samurai domains further impacted the tradition of metalwork in place by the fifteenth century. Rapid industrialization and Japan’s decision to compete economically on a world scale encouraged new artists and ateliers who had not trained in the Myochin school.

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