Posted 3 years ago
kwqd
(1184 items)
This Japanese cast iron cow okimono is 6" long x 3.15" high x 1.5" wide and weighs 1.3 lbs. I cannot find a maker's mark on it, but the surface is pretty convoluted. It was one of a pair found at an antiques auction in Tajimi in Gifu, Japan. It think that there may be some gold gilt applied to the finish. I will get some better images when I a get a chance to do so. The pair was probably made to commemorate the Zodiac year of the Cow. This is the smaller of the pair so probably not the bull. I posted images of the other one, already. Age and maker unknown. With shipping costs from Japan, I probably paid a bit too much for the pair, but I put them on my watch list and the seller offered me a 50% discount, so they were hard to pass up since I like them so much.
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/298886-japanese-cast-iron-cow-okimono-1?in=activity
Update: I finally found a set of these by Saegusa Sotaro in a signed wooden tomobako with some documentation. I think both sets are masterworks by this artist since they are identical. Neither set is signed. Apparently my set lost their tomobako.
Nicely made..
Thanks for your comment, inky! They are! I am surprised that they are not signed. They may have originally come in a signed tomobako...
Thanks for your comments, Eileen! I love a bargain, alright. If it wasn't for the shipping cost, they would have been a steal!
Thanks for loving my other cow okimono Thomas, Watchsearcher, Eileen, Kevin, BHIFOS, Jenni and inky!
Thanks for checking out my cow okimonos blunderbuss2 and dav2no1!
Thanks Manikin!
Thanks Rambojoe and fortapache!
Thanks aura!
Very nice rustic little cow, I adore both her and the bull, she definitely reminds me of those cows in really pastoral paintings, great naturalistic pose on her. :)
Thanks for your comments, LaurenRedmond! The mold maker did a really nice job as did the decorator. Not sure if they one and the same. Sad that they are not marked so I have a chance to figure out who the artist was.
Thanks for loving my iron cow mikelv85 and LaurenRedmond!
You have so many wonderful kimono Kevin.
I don’t think anyone can model animals with the same style as the Japanese, so much personality in the pieces.
Thanks for your comment, Karen! I wish that I had discovered Japanese metal work a long time ago, especially their okimono.
Thanks for loving my mystery cow Cisum and Karen!
Thanks fhrjr2 and Manikin!