A massive bronze urn and coverBy Hasegawa Harusada (1800-1883)
The urn shaped vessel decorated with cranes in flight through clouds and above waves with applied dragon handles and set upon a separate base section modelled as rockwork with a pair of karako (Chinese boys) and a urn, the cover also modelled as rockwork and further surmounted by two further karako, signature beneath main urn.
104cm high.注脚Provenance: Purchased in Japan by Vendors Grandfather Capt. Stanley Rhodes circa 1920's.

The iconography of boys and a large jar may refer to the story of Shiba Onko, (Chian/Sima Qian in Chinese) was a famous statesman and historian of the Han Dynasty. As a child it was said that Shiba Onko and his companions were watching fish in a huge jar when one of them fell in but whilst the rest of his playmates ran away leaving the child to drown, Shiba Onko used a rock to break the jar to drain out the water and set his companion free. This episode was a popular theme among Edo-period artists as a parable of virtuous behaviour.