Japanese silvered bronze owl signed Mitani Meiji period

Japanese silvered bronze owl (fukuro) naturalistically modelled perched on a gnarled tree trunk with plum blossom worked in gold and copper, inlaid glass eyes having 
details in shakudo and gilt and featherwork finely carved, signed in an oval reserve Mitani sei 三谷製 (made by Mitani), Meiji period 1868-1912.

The owl is symbolic of luck and good fortune.

For a similar bronze owl by the same artist see: 'The Golden Age of Japanese Okimono, the Dr. Kanter Collection' by Laura Bordignon, ACC Woodbridge 2010,  Metalwork pg. 244.

Also see Frederick Baekeland 'Imperial Japan, the art of the Meiji era, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, New York 1980.
Catalogue no. 106: a bronze work of an eagle perched on a stump by the same artist Mitani.

Dimensions of the owl without bronze base:
H 13cm (5.11" in.) x W 6.5cm (2.55" in.)