A JAPANESE MYOCHIN-SCHOOL IRON JIZAI OKIMONO OF A PRAYING MANTIS

A JAPANESE MYOCHIN-SCHOOL IRON JIZAI OKIMONO OF A PRAYING MANTIS
MEIJI ERA, 19TH/20TH CENTURY

The insect with a fully articulated body, the limbs, head and wings constructed of moving parts, the wings incised with thin lines, signed Myochin underneath, 17cm.

Provenance: from the collection of Dr Richard Brown, and thence by descent.

Dr. Richard F. Brown (1898-1963) was a Canadian Anglican missionary doctor who served in China, most notably at St. Paul's Hospital in Henan, starting around 1930. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he became a field doctor, providing urgent medical aid near the front lines and famously collaborating with fellow Canadian Dr. Norman Bethune in 1938 to treat wounded soldiers.