A MONUMENTAL JAPANESE PATINATED-BRONZE KORO (INCENSE BURNER)

With the restoration of the Meiji Emperor and the opening of trade with the West, Japan began to participate in the Occident's International Exhibitions and promote its nation’s products. Among the most popular items were Japanese bronze works, including koros (incense burners) such as the example seen here. Beautifully modelled and intricately cast koros were collected by such high profile taste makers as Siegfried Bing, who in 1881 went on to sell a valuable koro by the known Japanese artist Kako to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London for the staggering price at the time of £1,586. 7s. 2d., a sum which required special dispensation from the Treasury (inv. 188:1 to 9-1883).