Lot 14. Sano Takachika, A Set of Two Silver Incense-Burners in the Form of Geese, Meiji era (1868–1912), circa 1890s; 12 1/4in (31.1cm) high. Estimate $25,000 - 35,000. Sold for US$ 35,000 (€ 29,942). © Bonhams 2001-2018
Note: This accomplished artist may have started his career in the regional metalworking center of Takaoka (see lot 16), but by 1894 he was a member of the Tōkyō Chōkōkai (Tokyo Carvers' Association) and a set of figures of a heron and a crow by him was awarded a Second Class Diploma at the 27th Spring Exhibition of the Nihon Bijutsu Kyōkai (Japan Art Association). The award was recorded in the third issue of Bijutsu gahō (Magazine of Art), an authoritative bilingual journal founded in the wake of Japan's great success at the World's Columbian Exhibition, which commented that the "workmanship of the heron, from its ruffled plumage to the scared or angered expression of its eyes is faultless and that of the crow . . . is equally so." The same lifelike qualities can be seen in the present pair of geese, as well as in three works by Takachika in the Khalili Collection; another work by Takachika, a silver eagle and bronze snake on the trunk of a tree, was in the famous Japanese collection formed by the English connoisseur Michael Tomkinson and published in 1898.
Bonhams. ANCIENT SKILLS, NEW WORLDS TWENTY TREASURES OF JAPANESE METALWORK FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, 12 Sep 2018, NEW YORK