Japanese bronze Samurai Archer holding a bow in one hand and preparing to draw his arrow with the other, his robe has formal crests mon, with an aikuchi into his waist and a tachi suspended from the side, standing on a carved wood base, signed in a rectangular reserve Yoshimitsu 芳光, Meiji Period.
Japanese bronze vase decorated with two rats feasting on a pomegranate, signed in a rectangular silver tablet Meiji Kanoe-ne shunjitsu, Higashi bi oka fujo nishi, Hasegawa Issei saku (made by Hasegawa Issei, resident to the west of Okayama Castle, in East Bizen- Okayama prefecture, on a spring day in the year of kanoe-ne Meiji 33 in the Meiji period) 明治庚子春日、東備岡府城西、長谷川一清作 With original tomobako bearing label: Chukin hanaike, Hasegawa Issei saku, Meiji sanjuu-san-nen saku (cast bronze flower vase, made by Hasegawa Issei in Meiji 33 -1900) 鋳金花生、長谷川一清作、明治三十三年作 The artist Hasegawa Issei 長谷川一清was active from 1890 to 1920, and exhibited at the 1893 Chicago Columbus Exposition, his art name was Gyokutosai 玉東斎. The rat is Daikoku's messenger and the first animal of the Oriental Zodiac, often shown feasting on chestnuts, rice or pomegranates, and is symbolic of bounty and abundance. Dimensions: H 28cm x W 17.5cm H 11¼" x W 7"
Japanese silvered bronze okimono pair of Manchurian cranes (tancho-zuru) with details in shakudo and gilt, on a wooden base, signed with chiselled characters on a gilt oval plaque Hidenao秀尚 (Shūshō), Meiji Period. In Japan the crane is an auspicious symbol of long life because of its fabled life span of a thousand years, luck and fidelity as cranes pair for life. Reference: "The Golden Age of Japanese Okimono, Dr. A.M. Kanter's Collection", Metalwork pg. 254. " Meiji no Takara, Treasure of Imperial Japan, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection", Metalwork Part II, no. 107. Dimensions: H 34cm x W 36cm x D 30cm H 13½" x W 14¼" x D 12"
