Lot 3179: A BRONZE VASE By Oshima Joun (1858-1940)

A BRONZE VASE By Oshima Joun (1858-1940), Meiji era (1868-1912), late 19th-early 20th century Of ovoid form and worked on the surface with a snail on a gourd attached to a leafy vine, all in high relief, signed on the underside Joun saku With fitted wood stand, storage bag and wood tomobako storage box inscribed Chudo hisago chokoku kabin (Castbronze flower vase sculpted with a gourd) and signed Ichijoken Joun saku (Made by Ichijoken Joun) with seal Joun no in (Seal of Joun) 8 1/2in (21.8cm) high

A professor at Tokyo School of Art from 1887 until 1932, Oshima Joun was one of the most celebrated bronze-casters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He exhibited at several of the great international expositions of the era, including Paris (1900), St. Louis (1904) and London (1910).