A Bronze okimono of a plump puppy


By Nakahara Tsunenobu, Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century Naturalistically modelled with its head lowered playing with a stalk of bamboo held in its mouth, signed beneath with chiselled characters Tsunenobu saku; with a wooden storage box, inscribed inside the cover Nagato no kuni Hagi no ju, Nakahara Tsunenobu saku, Inukoro take chokoku (sculpture of a puppy and a bamboo, made by Nakahara Tsunenobu, living in Hagi, Nagato Province [present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture]). 12.5cm x 19cm (4 7/8in x 7½in). (2).