Zwei Hasen im Mondlicht
Two Hares on Nanako
A rabbit kozuka of shakudo, its whole face covered with nanako, rows of tiny raised dots struck one by one with a punch. Two hares are set on it. In the middle a gold hare crouches low and looks out at the viewer, its long ears spread to either side. To the right a silver hare leaps, all four legs stretched, ears laid back. Small tufts of grass grow on a low bank at the left and at the right end.
Das Objekt
The hares are raised in relief, one gold and one silver. The grass and the bank are worked in the shakudo itself. A narrow rim of gold frames the face. The back is covered with gold and left plain. There is no signature and no paper.
Der Hase und der Mond
In Japan the hare belongs to the moon, where it pounds rice for mochi (Wikipedia). The moon is not shown here. Gold and silver, the two colours of moonlight in Japanese metalwork, are given to the two animals instead, and the dark shakudo around them reads as night.
Die Zuschreibung
Nanako on shakudo, relief in gold and silver and a back covered with gold belong to the vocabulary of the Goto and the makers who followed them. The kozuka carries no name, and the collection does not give it one.
The Rabbit Kozuka
Kozuka. Mumei. Shakudo nanako-ji, takabori mit iroe in kin und gin, Goldrand. Usagi-zu. Edo-Zeit. Privatsammlung, erworben in Europa.
In the collection
- Type
- Tosogu › Kozuka
- Period
- Edo-Zeit
- Material
- Shakudo
- Motif
- Tiere und Vögel
