A bronze okimono of Ryujin (the dragon king of the sea), 1880
Constructed in three separate sections, Ryujin, wearing an elaborate helmet surmounted by a dragon and standing barefoot with his hands grasping a (missing) tide-controlling tama (sacred jewel) on a winged dragon-fish resting on spumy waves, set on a rectangular plinth with corner brackets in the form of stylised dragons in turn resting on an inswept base decorated around the sides with 12 roundels enclosing in each one of the 12 zodiac animals, the whole raised on four tall archaic mask feet
A bronze okimono of Ryujin (the dragon king of the sea), 1880
Constructed in three separate sections, Ryujin, wearing an elaborate helmet surmounted by a dragon and standing barefoot with his hands grasping a (missing) tide-controlling tama (sacred jewel) on a winged dragon-fish resting on spumy waves, set on a rectangular plinth with corner brackets in the form of stylised dragons in turn resting on an inswept base decorated around the sides with 12 roundels enclosing in each one of the 12 zodiac animals, the whole raised on four tall archaic mask feet
