A White Bronze image of a mythical Shishi Lion striking a fierce pose by Yamamoto Junmin signed on the base. The artist has chosen white bronze, which was very popular in the late 1920s and 30s from when this likely dates.However, he has chosen as well a black finish, in a way very Japanese, to hide the more expensive display o wealth (that white bronze would have been at the time) making it only visible from the underside. The figure is 16 x 10 x 17 cm (6-1/2 x 4 x 6-3/4 inches) and is in excellent condition.
Yamamoto Junmin (1882 – 1962) learned the metal arts under Katori Hotsuma (Hozuma) and Asakura Fumio at the Tokyo University of Art.Living in Nara, the ancient capital, he was one of the finest metal workers of his age, carrying on the Edo-doki tradition through the early Showa era while also incorporating many ideas and innovations from Art Deco into hos oeuvre.His work was exhibited with the Teiten/Bunten National Exhibitions many times before the second world war, and with the Nitten National Exhibition post-war.The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto holds two works by this important bronze artist, as well as the Metal Art Museum Hikarinotani.
