253 - OZAWA SHURAKU: A MASTERFUL WOOD AND MIXED-METAL KAGAMIBUTA NETSUKE OF A SHAKKYO DANCER

OZAWA SHURAKU: A MASTERFUL WOOD AND MIXED-METAL KAGAMIBUTA NETSUKE OF A SHAKKYO DANCER By Ozawa Shuraku (1830-1894), signed Baido Shuraku 梅洞 秀楽 with kakihan Japan, Tokyo, late 19 th century, Meiji period (1868-1912) Published: Meinertzhagen, Frederick / Lazarnick, George (1986) MCI, Part B, p. 789. The circular shibuichi plate is set into a deeply carved tagayasan wood bowl, its pronounced rippling grain forming a powerful dark frame for the composition. The disc is worked with extraordinary virtuosity in high and low relief and minute engraving, enriched with gold, silver, shakudo, and suaka takazogan and hirazogan. Depicted is the lion spirit from the Noh play Shakkyo caught at the height of his dance, the fierce gold shishi-guchi mask with bulging eyes and open mouth framed by a luxuriant reddish-copper mane, each strand individually delineated. His arms are flung dramatically outward, silver hands emerging from broad sleeves decorated with tomoe crests and finely engraved motifs, above a layered dark robe boldly patterned in gold. Behind the dancer rises a richly ornamented panel in alternating gold and reddish copper, finely engraved with flowering scrollwork, while a low balustrade crosses the foreground. The densely layered costume, varied alloys, and minute surface decoration create an extraordinary sense of depth and movement within the tiny circular field. Signed to the back of the plate BAIDO SHURAKU with kakihan. DIAMETER 4.2 cm Condition: Very good condition with only minor wear and small surface scratches. Ozawa Shuraku (1830-1894) was an important Tokyo metalworker and a pupil of Tenmin, producing sword fittings, kagamibuta plates, and kanamono for tobacco pouches. His work is distinguished by sophisticated combinations of relief, engraving, and contrasting metal inlays, qualities displayed to exceptional effect in the present miniature composition. The subject derives from the celebrated Noh play Shakkyo (“The Stone Bridge”), in which a lion spirit associated with Monju Bosatsu appears at the sacred bridge to the bodhisattva’s Pure Land and performs a magnificent dance among peonies. The lion dance forms the dramatic climax of the play and is characterized by powerful movement, a luxuriant mane, and the fierce shishi-guchi mask. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related kagamibuta carved in relief on a gold disk, by the same artist, signed Shuraku with kakihan, 4.2 cm diameter, illustrated in Dieuwke Eijer (1994) Kagamibuta, Mirrors of Japanese Life and Legend, Leiden and Geneva, no. 14. This kagamibuta is from the Baur collection, C 679.