MYOCHIN MUNETSUGU: A RARE IRON ‘EGGPLANT AND KAMAKIRI-MUSHI’ KOGO (INCENSE BOX)

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MYOCHIN MUNETSUGU: A RARE IRON ‘EGGPLANT AND KAMAKIRI-MUSHI’ KOGO (INCENSE BOX) By Myochin Munetsugu, signed Myochin Munetsugu Japan, Owari Province, 19th century, late Edo period (1615-1868) Naturalistically cast in the form of a ripe eggplant, the surface of the leaves and stem finely textured, the inrobuta (flush-fitting) lid superbly worked in uchidashi to depict a kamakiri-mushi (longhorn beetle). Signed underneath MYOCHIN MUNETSUGU. LENGTH 12.5 cm WEIGHT 161.8 g Myochin Munetsugu is probably the artist recorded in Wakayama Takeshi, Kinko jiten (Dictionary of Metalworkers), Tokyo, Token Shunju Shinbunsha, 1999, p.955, as being a maker of iron plate tsuba, active during the late Edo period in Owari Province (present day Aichi Prefecture). The Myochin family was the most successful of the numerous dynasties of professional armorers that originated in late-medieval Japan. In the Edo period (1615-1868) the family opened branches not just in the major cities but also in the chief towns of many provincial fiefs where they turned out vast quantities of cuirasses, helmets, face masks, and other components that were needed for samurai armor. Myochin craftsmen were highly accomplished in using tiny rivets to join multiple iron plates, creating protection that was both relatively light and highly flexible; over time, they repurposed their skills to make ingenious and astonishingly lifelike articulated models of snakes, fishes, crustaceans, and insects. They also made other objects for everyday or ceremonial use, like the present kogo, which is to be considered exceedingly rare. Auction comparison: Compare a closely related iron box and cover of seabream form, by Myochin Muneyoshi, dated late Edo period, 22.3 cm long, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, 13 May 2008, London, lot 546 (sold for GBP 3,840 or approx. EUR 7,200 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).

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