Japanese bronze tiger signed Miyabe Atsuyoshi for the Maruki Company Meiji period

Japanese bronze of a roaring tiger naturalistically modelled with one paw raised as if advancing. Its open jaw exposing the teeth in a forceful roar, conveying the power, movement and intensity of this animal. The tiger’s distinctive stripes are finely rendered in contrasting shades of rich brown patination, standing on an organically shaped burled wood stand. The work exemplifies the Japanese tradition of bronze animal sculpture, in which close observation of nature is combined with exceptional craftsmanship and expressive realism.
It is signed with chiselled characters Atsuyoshi saku 厚義作 with a square plaque Maruki shachu sei まるき製 (made by Miyabe Atsuyoshi for the Maruki Company), Meiji period 1868-1912.

The tiger (tora虎) is one of the twelve animal of the Zodiac and is symbolic of strength and courage.

Miyabe Atsuyoshi 宮部厚義 worked in Kyoto in the late Edo and early Meiji periods, created fine bronze sculptures of animals, many of which were commissioned by the Maruki workshop, a firm renowned for its exceptional bronze craftsmanship. He is recorded in Wakayama Takeshi 若山猛, Kinko jiten 金工事典 (Dictionary of Metalworkers), Tokyo,Token Shunju Shinbunsha 刀剣春秋新聞社 1999 p.1141.

Reference: ' Meiji no Takara 明治の宝 Treasures of Imperial Japan, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection' the Kibo Foundation 1995, Metalwork Part II, no. 93 and no. 103.

‘Splendors of Imperial Japan, Arts of the Meiji Period from the Khalili Collection’, the Kibo Foundation 2002 by J. Earle, p. 274 no.188.

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