Property of various owners TSUDA SHINOBU (1875-1946)A Bronze Figure of a Shishi Showa era (1926-1989), circa late 1930s A cast bronze figure of a juvenile shishi (Chinese mythical lion), boldly modeled, seated on its haunches with its front legs stretched out, bearing a fierce expression, the base with a cast signature Daiju With a wood tomobako storage box signed and inscribed Shō shishi za Daiju sei (Small seated shishi , made by Daiju) and with an indistinct seal 7 1/8in (18cm) high For another example of a shishi by Tsuda Shinobu,pare Kendall H. Brown, Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920-1945 , Alexandria, Virginia, Art Services International, 2012, cat. no. 127. Although it is of Chinese origin, the shishi was used by Tsuda at this period as a symbol of Japan's military might. An exhibitor from 1927 until 1946 at the Teiten national salon and its later iterations, Tsuda Shinobu was one of the most important metal artists of the early twentieth century. He graduated from Tokyo School of Art in 1900 and started to show his work in 1907. A juror and exhibitor at the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes held in Paris in 1925, Shinobu was twice formally decorated by the French government in addition to receiving several prestigious appointments in Japan.