AN IRON JIZAI OKIMONO OF A LOBSTER Japan, 19th century The sculpture - made with the assembly of several independent pieces, a technique that allows the total mobility of the artifact - describes the crustacean in a hyper-realistic way, the surface details rendered with attention to even the smallest detail, signed Myochin Muneharu saku on the lower side, wooden box with inscription. 41 cm length Provenance: Italian private collection. Sculptures like this, called jizai ("free display objects"), were made in Japan from the the 18th century. This production was mainly dedicated to those workshops of artists until then specialized in the manufacture of armor, less and less sought after as a result of the long period of peace in which the country lived. The Myochin dynasty was one of these ateliers that in the nineteenth century distinguished itself in particular for this kind of fascinating