Lot 43: Deer beneath a maple tree

Kubota Beisen (1852-1906) and Miura Kenya (1821-1889) Deer beneath a maple tree Signed Baisen e (painted by Baisen) and sealed, and sealed Kenya no in (seal of Kenya) Two-panel screen; ink, color and gold leaf on silk, the two deer applied in earthenware 25 5/8 x 24 ¾ in. (65.1 x 62.9 cm.)

65.1 x 62.9 cm.

Miura Kenya was the last of the Edo (Tokyo) line of artists following Ogata Kenzan. He made Kenzan-style pottery, but also explored Western technologies, building Japan's first ironclad ship and opening factories that produced Western brick, glass and ceramic insulators. One of his disciples was Bernard Leach's teacher. For Kenya, see Richard Wilson, The Potters Brush: The Kenzan Style of Japanese Ceramics (Washington, DC: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 2001), p. 196