Skip to main content
Bonhams
Search

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

A STONEWARE FIGURE OF AN ONI SUPPORTING A CLOUD Japan, Edo period,
A PAIR OF MIYAO BRONZE FIGURES Japan, By the Miyao workshop, Meiji period, late 19th century,

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

THREE BAMBOO FLOWER BASKETS Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, 20th century
OKAMOTO RYŌZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY A Small Ceramic Vase and Cover Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900
A GROUP OF FOUR JAPANESE BRONZES Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century,
An Arita blue and white porcelain plate, Kanbun (1663–1673) or Enpô Era (1673 - 1681)
Ryoun: A SET OF SIX HIRADO PORCELAIN DISHES
A rare Arita rectangular sander, circa 1680-1700
A SMALL LACQUER FAN-SHAPED KŌBAKO (INCENSE CONTAINER) Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century,
A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF TWO MONKEYS HANGING FROM A BRANCH Japan, 20th century,
A RECTANGULAR MIXED-METAL INLAID BOX WITH TIGER MOTIF Japan, 20th century,
A POLYCHROME WOOD CARVING OF RANRYO-O, THE PRINCE OF LANLING Japan, 19th century
A BRONZE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT LION Japan, Meiji period, late 19th century,
TWO ZUSHI (PORTABLE SHRINES) Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century,
A LARGE STONEWARE PLATTER Bizen Ware Showa (1926-1989) or Heisei (1989-2019) era, 20th/21st century
A NEGORO LACQUER CUP STAND AND A TEABOWL STAND Japan, Muromachi and Momoyama period,
ELEVEN KISERUZUTSU PIPE CASES Japan, 19th century,
EIGHT INRO Japan, 19th - 20th century,
SEVEN CERAMIC VESSELS AND A FIGURE Japan,
A WOOD BOKUTO IN THE FORM OF A COILED DRAGON Japan, Meiji period, 19th/20th century,
A SMALL LACQUER BOX Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th century,
SEVEN DECORATIVE VESSELS AND ACCESSORIES China and Japan, mostly 19th century,
TWO CLOISONNE-ENAMELED RECTANGULAR BOXES Japan, late 19th century,
FOUR CERAMIC CUP STANDS AND A KOGO Japan, 19th/20th century
Previous Lot
Next Lot
A Tokyo School bronze okimono group of a bear and cub By Kaniya Kuniharu (fl. circa 1869), Meiji Period image 1
A Tokyo School bronze okimono group of a bear and cub By Kaniya Kuniharu (fl. circa 1869), Meiji Period image 2
Lot 280

A Tokyo School bronze okimono group of a bear and cub
By Kaniya Kuniharu (fl. circa 1869), Meiji Period

Fine Japanese Art
5 November 2009, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £33,600 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Japanese Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

A Tokyo School bronze okimono group of a bear and cub

By Kaniya Kuniharu (fl. circa 1869), Meiji Period
Both perched on rocky crag on a chiselled bronze plate representing a river, the adult reaching down with one fore paw to catch a fish swimming by, her offspring beside her waiting in anticipation for its feed, signed in hiragana script Kaniya Kuniharu saku. 44cm (17¼in) high, 60cm (23½in) across.

Footnotes

銅置物　親子熊　蟹谷国晴　明治時代

Kaniya Kuniharu was one of the foremost craftsmen in cast bronze of the Meiji Period. He had been taught by two partiucularly eminent artists, Takamura Koun (1852-1934) and Otake Norikuni (b.1852). Koun, a master of wood sculpture, had been appointed Professor of sculpture a the founding of the Tokyo Art School in 1889.

Kuniharu himself was one of the founding members of the Tokyo Chukin Kai (Tokyo Cast Metal Association) in 1907 together with Oshima Joun (1858-1940). He exhibited at both National and International exhibitions, including the Paris Exposition of 1900; the high quality of this bronze group could very well have been conceived for exhibition in the West.

Compare with the maker's other examples of fine quality bronze pieces in the Khalili Collection, illustrated by Joe Earle, Splendors of Imperial Japan, Arts of the Meiji Period from the Khalili Collection, pp.370 and 372, nos.263 and 264.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A STONEWARE FIGURE OF AN ONI SUPPORTING A CLOUD Japan, Edo period,
A PAIR OF MIYAO BRONZE FIGURES Japan, By the Miyao workshop, Meiji period, late 19th century,
THREE BAMBOO FLOWER BASKETS Taisho (1912-1926) or Showa (1926-1989) era, 20th century
OKAMOTO RYŌZAN FOR THE YASUDA COMPANY A Small Ceramic Vase and Cover Meiji era (1868-1912), circa 1900
A GROUP OF FOUR JAPANESE BRONZES Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th/early 20th century,
An Arita blue and white porcelain plate, Kanbun (1663–1673) or Enpô Era (1673 - 1681)
Ryoun: A SET OF SIX HIRADO PORCELAIN DISHES
A rare Arita rectangular sander, circa 1680-1700
A SMALL LACQUER FAN-SHAPED KŌBAKO (INCENSE CONTAINER) Edo period (1615-1868), 19th century,
A BOXWOOD OKIMONO OF TWO MONKEYS HANGING FROM A BRANCH Japan, 20th century,
A RECTANGULAR MIXED-METAL INLAID BOX WITH TIGER MOTIF Japan, 20th century,
A POLYCHROME WOOD CARVING OF RANRYO-O, THE PRINCE OF LANLING Japan, 19th century
A BRONZE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT LION Japan, Meiji period, late 19th century,
TWO ZUSHI (PORTABLE SHRINES) Edo period (1615-1868) or Meiji era (1868-1912), 19th century,
A LARGE STONEWARE PLATTER Bizen Ware Showa (1926-1989) or Heisei (1989-2019) era, 20th/21st century
A NEGORO LACQUER CUP STAND AND A TEABOWL STAND Japan, Muromachi and Momoyama period,
ELEVEN KISERUZUTSU PIPE CASES Japan, 19th century,
EIGHT INRO Japan, 19th - 20th century,
SEVEN CERAMIC VESSELS AND A FIGURE Japan,
A WOOD BOKUTO IN THE FORM OF A COILED DRAGON Japan, Meiji period, 19th/20th century,
A SMALL LACQUER BOX Meiji (1868-1912) or Taisho (1912-1926) era, early 20th century,
SEVEN DECORATIVE VESSELS AND ACCESSORIES China and Japan, mostly 19th century,
TWO CLOISONNE-ENAMELED RECTANGULAR BOXES Japan, late 19th century,
FOUR CERAMIC CUP STANDS AND A KOGO Japan, 19th/20th century