A VERY LARGE AND MASSIVE BRONZE TEMPLE WATER FOUNTAIN... Lot n° 1

A VERY LARGE AND MASSIVE BRONZE TEMPLE WATER FOUNTAIN WITH DRAGON SPOUT Japan, Edo period (1615-1868) Superbly modeled, the ovoid body supported on a tall, elaborately tiered base cast in openwork with minogame amid crashing waves and decorated with bands of rinzu, key-fret, and stiff leaves, flanked by scrolling handles issuing from beast heads, above the spout in the form of a ferocious two-horned dragon with the mouth wide open revealing tongue and fangs, its scaly body writhing along the vessel pursuing a flaming tama, the reverse with a fierce flying eagle, the shoulder encircled by lobed panels enclosing foliate scroll against a key-fret ground alternating with pendent tassels below a band of paulownia leaves and clouds, all below the stepped cover surmounted by a shishi mother and its cub exquisitely modeled in animated poses with snarling expressions. HEIGHT 175 cm WEIGHT 170 kg Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, traces of use, casting flaws. Minor signs of weathering and few small areas of corrosion. Remnants of pigment. Naturally grown patina with fine verdigris. Provenance: Collection of Elizabeth Augusta Grosvenor Guest (1879-1960), thence by descent in the same family. Augusta Guest was the only issue from the union of two pre-eminent British families: the Guests and the Grosvenors. She was the grand-daughter of Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster (1795-1869), and grand-daughter of Lady Charlotte Guest (later Schreiber, 1812-1895). She was a keen sportswoman, a dog breeder and amateur artist. Her home was Inwood House, Yenston Road, Henstridge, Templecombe, Somerset which was built by her parents in 1881 on the site of an earlier house. She illustrated several books. After the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the dissolution of Buddhist temples at the beginning of the Meiji period, many of the large bronze temple lanterns and fountains like the present lot were largely sold, melted down, or destroyed during earthquakes and wars. Expatriates living in Japan and tourists purchased them to decorate their gardens at home, while others received them as gifts well into the 20th century. Auction comparison: Compare a related larger bronze lantern with similar patina and also decorated with dragon and shishi, ca. 295 cm high, at Lempertz, 11 June 2022, Cologne, lot 293 ( sold for EUR 47,880).