Described as a ‘tour de force’ of Meiji craftsmanship, this elaborate bronze and multi-metal basket of seafood by Oshima Joun (1858-1940) is priced at £45,000 from Kevin Page Oriental Art.
The 2ft 5in (73cm) high piece, which the gallery says showcases many of the metalwork techniques refined and perfected during the Meiji period, is signed with Joun’s seal and features an array of seafood including spiny lobster, horned turban shell, Japanese snapper and Asari clams.
Born into the metalworking trade, Joun ran the successful studio Sanseisha with his brother Ōshima Yasutaro, which employed around a dozen assistants by 1879.
He was also a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Art from 1887-1932 where he passed on his skills to many students including Eisuke Jomi, Sessei Okazaki, and Suzuki Chokichi.
Joun exhibited widely, including at Tokyo’s second National Industrial Exhibition in 1881, the Paris Exposition in 1900 and the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 in London.
