Japanese bronze vase with cranes signed Kowa and Hirotake Meiji period

Code: 10156

Dimensions:

Japanese bronze vase with a pair of cranes in flight and sprays of irises among reeds, inlaid with gold, silver, shakudo and copper signed with chiselled characters Kowa 幸和 with kakihan and a seal mark on the base Hirotake 寛雄, Meiji period 1868-1912.

In Japan the crane is an auspicious symbol of long life because of its fabled life span of a thousand years, luck and fidelity as cranes pair for life.

The artist Kowa was active in Kyoto during the Meiji era.