OTA HARUKAGE: A SUPERB AND RARE BRONZE AND SUAKA-DO VASE DEPICTING THE MONKEY KING SONGOKU

y Ota Harukage (Shunkei), signed Harukage koku
Japan, first half of the 20th century, Taisho period (1912-1926) to Showa period (1926-1989)

The pear-shaped body supported on a short foot with lipped rim, rising to a waisted neck with everted rim, with katakiri, kebori, and gilt and suaka (copper) hirazogan, depicting the Monkey King Songoku dressed in flowing robes with floral hems and tassels, his left holding a staff and the right hand raised evoking smaller versions of himself, each holding a staff. The side signed HARUKAGE koku [carved by Harukage].

HEIGHT 30.4 cm
WEIGHT 1,555 g

With a tomobako storage box inscribed ‘Suaka kabin, Songoku no zu’ [Copper vase depicting Son Goku].

Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, small nicks, few light surface scratches.
Provenance: A. Takeda, Japan. Collection of James and Christine Heusinger, acquired from the above. The storage box with a label ‘The Heusinger Collection 23’. James and Christine Heusinger started collecting Japanese art in the late 1970s. Their collection began with a modest piece by Seifu Yohei III and expanded into over 100 pieces. They donated the majority of their pieces to the Cleveland Museum of Art, which now houses the most important collection of ceramics by the Seifu Yohei studio.

Ota Harukage (also known as Ota Shunkei) 太田春景, Tokyo, 1889-1945, is listed in the Haynes Index of Japanese Sword Fittings and Associated Artists on p. 204 (H 00800.0). Ota Harukage, a pupil of Funakoshi Shunmin (1868–1940) was recorded as being active during the Taisho and Showa eras in Tokyo. For further information on this artist, see Wakayama Takeshi, Kinko Jiten (A Dictionary of Metalworkers), Tokyo, Token Shunju Shinbunsha, 1999, p. 620.

The Monkey King Songoku is derived from the 16th century Chinese classic Journey to the West, where he is known as Sun Wukong. He became a popular character in Japan when the novel was translated and published during the Edo period. Songoku was one of three servants of the holy monk Sanzo Hoshi (Xuanzang), the others being a boar and a demon. His patron having to prove his saintliness by performing 108 different acts, Songoku helped him by plucking 107 of his hairs and blowing on them to create the same number of doubles of his master, leaving each to carry out one saintly act. The band around his head is what bound him to obey his monastic master. The cloud he is usually seen standing on can instantly transport him over great distances.

Museum comparison:
Compare a related mixed-metal Vase by Ota Shunkei, 34 cm high, dated 1947, in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, accession number 1975-00-5018-000.

Auction comparison:
Compare a related iron vase by Ota Harukage, 22 cm high, dated to the early to mid-20th century, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, 16 May 2019, London, lot 214 (at an estimate of GBP 8,000-10,000).