Kozan Zo Furniture

Fine Japanese Meiji period shakudo pill box decorated with wildlife of komai style damascene form. The box beautifully decorated with cranes to the lid above a flowing river beside blossoming flowers and foliage. To each longer side frogs jump between lily pads with a crane flying to the shorter side and further foliage. Signed ?? Kozan. We firmly believe this to be Takase Kozan a renowned Japanese metalworker who worked in Kyoto, famous for his incredible skills in creating articulated sea-life and insects. Notes  Takase Kozan (1869 to 1934) born in Kanazawa, capital of Ishikawa Prefecture on Japan’s central Honshu Island was the eldest son of Takase Kanatake. In 1883 Kozan started working in the export department of Ikeda Seisuke's company in Kobe and transferred in 1887 to the metalworking division of the factory's Kyoto branch. Here he learned metalworking techniques from Tomiki Isuke, a brilliant metal artist with exceptionally realistic pieces. In 1893 he opened a business selling metalwork both domestically and abroad, soon becoming famous for his articulated studies of sea life and insects. In 1910, the artist was honoured when the Crown Prince (Taisho Emperor) purchased several of his astonishingly realistic articulated insects...