OSHIMA JOUN: AN EXCEPTIONAL FRAMED BRONZE PICTURE OF SHOKI By Oshima Joun (1858-1940), signed Joun Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912) A masterfully crafted bronze portrait of Shoki. The demon queller is shown stern-faced with bushy furrowed brows and with long flaring beard and hair, both minutely incised. The top of his robe is inlaid in silver with a keyfret pattern. The circular bronze picture is framed by a fabric mounting and a hardwood frame. Signed within an inlaid rectangular reserve JOUN. Oshima Joun (1858-1940) was a professor at Tokyo School of Art from 1887 until 1932 and is regarded as one of the most celebrated bronze-casters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He exhibited at several of the great international expositions of the era, including Paris (1900), St. Louis (1904) and London (1910). SIZE picture only 26.5 x 22.6 cm, SIZE total 48.7 x 37.6 cm Condition: Very good condition with minor surface wear to silver inlay and tiny nicks to the bronze. Provenance: British collection.