A finely-cast bronze okimono of a rat


By Muroe Kichibei (1841-1903), Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1880Naturalistically modelled with its head lowered and one front paw raised, its long tail curled round to the side, its dark-brown patinated bronze body rendered with minutely chiselled fur details, its eye inlaid in shakudo, signed on the underside Muroe Kichibei saku within an oval rectangular reserve; with a wood storage box inscribed outside the lid Munetomo saku nezumi okimono [...] (Okimono of a rat made by Munetomo [alternative name of Kichibei]), inside the lid attached with a paper slip inscribed with the artist's biography, sealed Dokuan. 6.5cm x 15cm (2½in x 5 7/8in). (2).
|During the Edo period (1615–1868), the cities of Kanazawa in Kaga Province (present-day Ishikawa Prefecture) and Takaoka in Etchu Province (Toyama Prefecture) developed as major artistic metalworking centres thanks to the patronage of the Maeda clan, the wealthiest in all Japan aside from the ruling Tokugawa dynasty. In the very early years of the Meiji era, government bureaucrats encouraged the development of a metalworking industry in both cities, in particular by commissioning work for display at the Vienna Weltausstellung (World Exposition) held in 1873. Following the success of Japanese metalwork at that great global event, Takaoka entrepreneurs set up private companies to capitalize on new opportunities for international trade. The city remains to this day a major centre for the manufacture of ornamental bronze.Like Suzuki Chokichi in Tokyo, Muroe Kichibei and his colleagues in Takaoka and Kanazawa combined outstanding bronze-casting and bronze-finishing skills, honed by centuries creating Buddhist images complemented by the crafts of inlay and chiselling that had long been an essential component of sword decoration. For a similar model of a rat, also by Muroe Kichibei, see Meiji-ki Takaoka Doki Chokin Meisaku Hozonkai (Association for the Preservation of Masterpieces of Meiji-Era Bronze Vessels and Metalwork from Takaoka), Takaoka doki: Meiji-ki chokin meisakushu (Takaoka Bronzes: Collected Masterpieces of Meiji-Era Metalwork). Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, 1985, unpaginated.