A monumental bronze incense burner with mythological motifs, Meiji period (late 19th century) sealed Dai Nihon Tokyoshi Kojimachi shita rokubancho Oki seizo

Cast as a series of rectangular footed plinths rising to support the large rectangular censer, the censer cast on the sides in high relief with reserves of legendary scenes of warriors set off by four large dragons at each corner, the cover pierced with ruyi-head clouds and applied with the figures of the brigand Hakamadare Yasusuke (Kidomaru) stalking and preparing to draw his sword on Fujiwara no Yasumasa as he plays the flute in suggested moonlight; the middle plinth of entwined dragons supported by four dancing shojo above the lower plinth of turtles, rocks and waves above the stepped base
83½in (212.1cm.) high  - Estimate: $80,000-120,000

Provenance: Edwin Mirvish, Toronto

Notes: This massive presentation bronze may have been produced for one of the international exposition fairs held at the close of the 19th century. Theater impressario Ed Mirvish (1914-2007) reputedly purchased the bronze from the family of General Douglas MacCarthur in the 1970s. The bronze stood in Mirvish's downtown-Toronto restaurant Ed's Warehouse for many years.

Christie's. Japanese & Korean Art. 18 March 2008. 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York