Object Description
A large Meiji period bronze tiger by Genryusai Seiya, striding forward with teeth bared, the bronze patinated to imitate tiger stripes, with inlaid glass eyes, set on a gnarled rootwood base. Impressed seal mark Dai-Nihon Genryusai Seiya zo [Made by Genryusai Seiya, Great Japan] 大日本 源龍斎 誠谷造 Japanese, c1880.
Footnote: Genryusai Seiya was the master craftsman in charge of a workshop which specialized in export wares of the highest quality. Production included human genre figures, vases and exotic bronze models of animals probably influenced by the opening of Tokyo Zoological Gardens in 1882.