JAPANESE DRAGON LOVESEAT

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Description: RARE ANTIQUE 19th CENTURY DRAGON LOVESEAT

A magnificent and rare dragon loveseat with richly-detailed carving in high- relief throughout the piece. A mischievous mythological Oni grasps the top of the loveseat from behind and peers over the back to see what's going on, while the lower bodies of two writhing dragons appear at the base of the backrest, their upper bodies and heads gracefully forming the arms of this spectacular example of the Japanese furniture maker's art. Winged flying dragons form the five legs that support the loveseat. The detailed finely-carved relief work in the figures of the oni and the dragons is outstanding, and representative of the highest quality furniture craftsmanship in Japan in the 19th century.

THE DRAGON IN JAPANESE ART - The dragon in Japan is an ancient symbol of power, heavenly knowledge and imperial strength. "Have you seen the dragon?" asks Mr. Okakura in The Awakening of Japan. "Approach him cautiously, for no mortal can survive the sight of his entire body. The eastern dragon is not the gruesome monster of mediaeval imagination, but the genius of strength and goodness. He is the spirit of change, therefore of life itself. . . . Hidden in the caverns of inaccessible mountains, or coiled in the unfathomed depths of the sea, he awaits the time when he slowly arouses himself into activity. He unfolds himself in the storm-clouds; he washes his mane in the blackness of the seething whirlpools. His claws are in the fork of the lightning, his scales begin to glisten in the bark of rain-swept pine-trees. His voice is heard in the hurricane, which, scattering the withered leaves of the forest, quickens a new spring. The dragon reveals himself only to vanish."

This piece was probably custom-ordered and made for the American or European market over a hundred years ago. It has a reddish-brown original patina.

Status: No Longer Available	Reference#: 81404_2
Condition: Excellent overall; minor scratches due to age	Year: Circa 1880's
Country: JAPAN
Height: 46 in. (116.84 cm)	Depth: 29 in. (73.66 cm)
Width: 58 in. (147.32 cm)
Title: RARE JAPANESE DRAGON LOVESEAT
Materials: Probably Japanese Fruitwood

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