A JAPANESE HIRADO MODEL OF A TIGER

A JAPANESE HIRADO MODEL OF A TIGER

EDO OR MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY

Seated on its haunches and with its tail wrapped close to its body, the feline looks up with its ears lying flat, with details of the fur carved in the surface, the eyes highlighted with black iron oxide and the claws left unglazed, the nostrils and base with holes for air to escape during firing, 15.3cm.

Provenance: from the collection of Edward Croft-Murray CBE (1907-1980). Croft-Murray was an expert in British Art and Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum.

Cf. C P Cardeiro, Hirado Ware, p.75, where a comparable model of a tiger is illustrated. Also, see Bonhams New York, Fine Japanese Works of Art, 19th May 2013, lot 2331 for a similar model.