Japan, Obidome in the shape of a monkey on a hoop, Katsura Mitsuharu, 1871

Katsura Mitsuharu, one of the great metalworkers of the modern era, was a student of Toyokawa Mitsunaga II (1851-1923).

Katsura Mitsuharu was a prizewinner at domestic and international expositions. He exhibited at the Paris (1937) and Chicago (1933) International Expositions.
He received a large number of important public commissions including a silver-wedding gift from the city of Tokyo to the Meiji Emperor (a collaboration with Mitsunaga, 1894) and a shibuichi flower vase commissioned by Dutch residents of Japan to congratulate Princess Juliana of the Netherlands on her engagement in 1936.
The artist's works were exhibited in the Paris and Chicago International Expositions, and other metal works by him are in the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.

On this obidome, a decor usually attached on the thin ribbon that maintain the obi belt of a kimono, a monkey is playing with the hoop used by monkey trainers.

Shibuishi with silver and gold inlays, gold ribbon loops.
Signed Mitsuharu

In wood tomobako with calligraphy description.
Japan, Meiji, Taisho
5x2x0,6cm