bronze figure, dragon 龍置物

While twisting its body, this dragon is opening its mouth upwards and appears to be crying out with its tongue out. It holds a crystal globe in its powerful and long claws. Its other legs' claws extend, as if grabbing the ground. Spikes run down its backside from neck to tail. Its body is covered in a scale pattern and its horns and whiskers extend far backward. The two inscriptions at the bottom of the snake-like scaly stomach (“Aged 69,” “Cast by Toun”) indicate that it was created in the metal caster’s mature later years.Kimura Toun was a metal caster from Iwate Prefecture during the second half of the Edo period (1600–1868). He was adopted by Murata Seimin I. In 1829 he took on the name “Seimin II.” However, in the 1830s the biological child of Seimin I became Seimin III, and he then changed his name back to Kimura Toun. Crystal ball-holding dragons are popular motifs thought to bring about good fortune. Toun is famous for his particularly outstanding dragons. This piece backs up his reputation with its precise expressions and powerfulness. Hiroko KUROKAWA