Bronze Meiji Tiger???

[Judder]

Hi Guys, I wonder if you could help me verify if this tiger is indeed from the Meiji Period. I personally have not seen anything quite as unique.
I suspect it is quite old judging by its ivory teeth. There are no markings/signings. The Tiger is 11 inches long and around 5 inches tall. Very heavy and solid (Bronze) and in perfect condition.
Thanks in advance.

[fancypants]

Welcome to the forum , Judder .

Perhaps you could fill us in on a bit of he history of your item ?

When I check out metal items from the Meiji period (or ones I suspect are from the time-frame) , I inspect every square inch of them with a 30x to 10x lens .

Doing so has lead me to find very small or barely distinguishable makers' sigs , as well as other features .

In items such as yours , with added elements (teeth) , sometimes the type of fitting & adhesive can give clues as to age of the overall item (not true in the case of repairs , though) .

As you may know , during the Meiji period there were many metalworkers (& Samurai) who'd been put out of work in the 'weapons' trade , due to government edicts ; some of these folks continued to make metal items of non-weapon purpose , since they had to find a way to adapt their skills .
Many items from this period were left unmarked/unsigned , for a variety of reasons .

Cool little bronze item , Judder .

[Judder]

Thanks for the reply FancyPants...Unfort unately I know very little of the history of this Tiger only that I purchased it from a Gentleman who was looking to downsize his bronze collection (In England). The teeth don't seem to be glued in but appear more to slot in to purposely carved gaps in the mouth.
The bronze is turning slightly green between the inside of the hind legs. The detail and muscle tone of the tiger is exceptional and I have surfed the internet and not seen a tiger that has as much detail or quality.
I have no experience in antiques what so ever but I am fascinated with items that have history (First purchase of something Old Lol).

[fancypants]

Congratulatios on your first purchase of 'something old' !

It's possible that this item once had a base of wood or stone .

[KC]

I was thinking it probably had a base fancy.  Good/great information there!

This is one of those things I don't feel comfortable evaluating without a hands on.  Love these types of items...but the forgeries are out there and some are pretty darn good imitations.

Irregardless, the intricacies on this piece are really good.

[regularjoe2]

I completely agree with KC about the hands-on approach with such items .

Not saying yours is a reproduction , Judder , just sayin' it's dang hard to tell about some things from just an image .

Perhaps taking it to a friendly antique shop (a real one) near you would be something that might glean a bit more info for you ?

I have not been able to I.D. the artist/maker of your item .

[Judder]

Thank you so much for your input Guys, much appreciated.

[Judder]

Hi Guys, just letting you all know that I contacted a Gentleman named Mark Hinton who is the Director of the Japanese department at Christie's London. After studying the pictures I sent him, he confirmed that the Tiger was made between 1870-1890. Below is a snippet of one of the emails I received back from him.


This is a good example of this model and assuming the patination is original it should make around £1200- 1500 and perhaps £1500 - 1800 .Anastasia would be delighted to put it in her sale at south Kensington in November and if you would like to include it please phone 0207 ****  or email her on avonseibold @christies .com Kind regards Mark

[fancypants]

Hey Judder ...

thanks for posting the good news & congrats !