By Kimura Harumitsu, signed Harumitsu sakuJapan, Tokyo, Meiji period (1868-1912)The scene depicted here relates to the Ten Ox Herding Pictures, specifically scene no. 6 where the boy is shown seated on the ox, and leisurely playing the flute after taming it. In this large and impressive okimono the ox (ushi) is naturalistically cast, a rope halter is attached to its muzzle and the rope passes through over his back and is tied around the belly. The boy’s feet, hands, and head are carved from ivory, evidently carved by a great master of the Tokyo school. The separately carved flute is made from wood and ivory. The underside with the signature HARUMITSU saku [made by Harumitsu].LENGTH 45 cmWEIGHT 7.8 kgCondition: Overall in good condition with some losses to the fingers of the boy and some age cracks to the ivory. The object presents very well.Provenance: Hungarian private collection.Kimura Harumitsu’s works is exceedingly scarce and not much is known about the artist other than that he was a pupil of Kaniya Kuniharu (1869-after 1910) who was one of the foremost craftsmen in cast bronze of the Meiji period and had been taught by two particularly eminent artists, Takamura Koun (1852-1934) and Otake Norikuni (b. 1852).This item contains ivory, rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, and/or some types of tropical wood and is subject to CITES when exporting outside the EU. It is typically not possible to export such items outside of the EU, including to the UK. Therefore this item can only be shipped within the EU or picked up in our gallery in person.