A MASSIVE BRONZE MODEL OF A DRAGON, ATTRIBUTED TO KIMURA TOUN, JAPAN, EDO/MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY | GRANDE ET IMPRESSIONNANTE SCULPTURE DE DRAGON EN BRONZE PATINÉ, ATTRIBUÉE À KIMURA TOUN, JAPON, FIN DE L’ÉPOQUE EDO - ÉPOQUE MEIJI, XIXE SIÈCLE
Lot Closed
July 23, 02:16 PM GMT
Estimate
18,000 - 25,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
A MASSIVE BRONZE MODEL OF A DRAGON, ATTRIBUTED TO KIMURA TOUN, JAPAN, EDO/MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY
The mythical animal powerfully cast standing foursquare with its head raised upward
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GRANDE ET IMPRESSIONNANTE SCULPTURE DE DRAGON EN BRONZE PATINÉ, ATTRIBUÉE À KIMURA TOUN, JAPON, FIN DE L’ÉPOQUE EDO - ÉPOQUE MEIJI, XIXE SIÈCLE
le corps puissant enroulé sur lui-même, ciselé de fines écailles et de griffes acérées, la tête féroce et la gueule béante aux dents acérées
77 x 113 cm, 30⅜ by 44 ½ in.
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This impressive bronze sculpture of a dragon may have originally been associated with a round vessel to form an incense burner (kōro). Compare a similar bronze okimono of a dragon, preserved together with a round incense burner cast with phoenix, in the collection of the Musée Cernuschi, Paris, published on https://www.cernuschi.paris.fr/fr/node/287, from the Estate of Henri Cernuschi. The Cernuschi’s dragon entered the museum’s collection in 1871 and is also illustrated in Art animalier au temps des derniers Shogun (XVIIIe - XIXe siècles) : animaux d'Edo - Fonds Cernuschi 1871 - 1872 [exhibition catalogue with black-and-white illustrations], Paris, Musée Cernuschi, 1986, no. 82, p. 45.
Fig. 1 : Dragon, bronze, fonte à la cire perdue, Japon, entre 1800 et 1870. H. 76 cm. Paris, musée Cernushi (inv. M.C. 2082).
Fig. 2 : Similar Japanese Coiling Dragon, Meiji period, 19th century. 112.5 x 122 x 73.5 cm. Provenance : with C. A. Seltzer, Cleveland, until 1895. Oberlin (U.S.A.), Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College.