TSUDA SHINOBU: A LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF A SHISHI BALANCING A GEAR

拍品描述

TSUDA SHINOBU: A LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF A SHISHI BALANCING A GEAR By Tsuda Shinobu (1875-1946), signed Daiju saku Japan, c. late 1930s, Showa period (1926-1989) Finely cast seated on its haunches, the shishi (Chinese mythical lion) with one paw resting atop a gear centered by a foreign insignia, its chest thrust forward, the head modeled with a tight-lipped fierce expression, wide bulging eyes, alert ears, all framed by a scrolling mane, the muscular body with articulated ribs, thick tufts of curling fur, and a long scrolling tail. The underside signed DAIJU saku [made by Daiju]. HEIGHT 24.2 cm WEIGHT 3.4 kg Assertive, aggressive models of shishi were a favorite subject for bronze sculpture during the latter half of the 1930s as Japanese propagandists sought to engage citizens more actively in the war effort in Manchuria and China. For another example by Tsuda, one of the leading bronze artists of the period, see Kendall H. Brown, Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920-1945, exhibition catalogue, Alexandria, Va., Art Services International, 2012, cat. no. 127. Tsuda Shinobu (1875-1946) was one of the most important metal artists of the early twentieth century. He graduated from Tokyo School of Art in 1900 and started to show his work in 1907. A juror and exhibitor at the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes held in Paris in 1925, Shinobu was twice formally decorated by the French government in addition to receiving several prestigious appointments in Japan. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related bronze figure of a reclining shishi by the same artist, c. late 1930s, 18 cm high, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese and Korean Art including Japanese Screens from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Simone and Alan Hartman Collection of Japanese Art Part II, 21 March 2024, New York, lot 1057 (sold for USD 3,584 or approx. EUR 3,200 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

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