124 - JAPAN, Meiji Period

JAPAN, Meiji Period A rare bronze figure with a brown patina depicting a standing ram in motion; the piece is rendered in a highly naturalistic style, with the animal’s thick coat and the details of its muzzle finely chiseled. A “Genryusai Seiya ” (á¤ÍÛñÑ) stamped beneath the body. Length: 24 cm Note: Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, depictions of animals became highly popular among Western collectors. Rather than depicting only Japanese species, Japanese artists favored animals they considered exotic, catering to European and North American tastes, thereby contributing to the boom in Japanese export arts during the Meiji era and the era of the great world’s fairs, where such works depicting elephants, tigers, camels, monkeys, and even birds of prey, held a prominent place at the exhibition booths. Thus, Genryusai Seiya established himself as one of the most important bronze casters of this period in the field of animal sculpture. His workshops, renowned for the exceptional quality of their castings and chiseling, became among the leading producers of large bronzes intended for export. They were among the most accomplished of their time, characterized by a breathtaking pursuit of realism, as evidenced by the work before us. It is worth noting that depictions of sheep are particularly rare in Genryusai Seiya’s body of work.