Reference · Tokyo National Museum Kagawa Katsuhiro, Plaque with Monkeys Playing with a Mantis, 1892, Tokyo National Museum. CC0. Source ↗
I · Maker & date
Maker: Kagawa Katsuhiro (1853–1917)
Date: Meiji era, 1892
Collection: Tokyo National Museum E-12754
II · Technique
Brass ground with raised inlay in several coloured metals. The museum notes a silver-copper alloy for the grey fur, gold for the mantis, and crude copper for the faces and grasses, with details chiselled.
III · Exhibition & provenance
Exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. Gift of the Japan Delegate Office for the Exposition to the Tokyo National Museum.
IV · Marks
Not captured from the source.
Sources: ColBase, Tokyo National Museum E-12754 ↗ · Wikimedia Commons file (CC0) ↗ · Imperial Household Artist list, Japanese Wikipedia ↗
Assessment
See how we score
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Maker stature | 2.5 / 2.5 |
| Recognition (museum / designation / price) | 2.5 / 3 |
| Exhibition | 1 / 1 |
| Technique (cited) | 1.5 / 1.5 |
| Provenance | 1 / 1 |
| Condition, scale & documentation | 1 / 1 |
| Total | 9.5 / 10 |
Reasoning: Imperial Household Artist (1906); Tokyo National Museum; shown at Chicago 1893; gift of the Japan Delegate Office. How we score.
Maker context
Kagawa Katsuhiro (1853–1917) is recorded by the National Crafts Museum under the name 香川勝廣. According to the Tokyo National Museum, he trained under a maker of sword fittings in the Edo period and later became a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.
His Plaque with Monkeys Playing with a Mantis of 1892 is made in several coloured metals in raised inlay on a brass ground. It was shown at Chicago in 1893 and given to the Tokyo National Museum by the Japan Delegate Office. The museum calls it representative of his work at the peak of his powers. In 1903–05 he made a pair of silver flower vessels with phoenixes for the Phoenix Room of the Meiji Palace, commissioned by the Imperial Household Ministry.123
Summarised from our maker page, where every fact is footnoted: Kagawa Katsuhiro 香川勝廣.
Notes to “Maker context”
Related records
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