EARLY 20TH CENTURY, SIGNED MUNEYOSHI (TANAKA TADAYOSHI; ?-1958)

Together with dragons and lobsters; snakes were probably the subject most suited to the Myochin artists, being perfect examples of the application of the concept of flexibility; which is so central to Japanese linked iron plate armor. There are fine examples in museum collections that date from the Edo period, some of which, such as the two pieces in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and another in The Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum, Kyoto, are simply signed Myochin saku under the belly. Many bear the names of Myochin adopted by later artists, such as the snake in the collection of the British Museum signed Muneyoshi, and another in the Tokyo National Museum with the same signature.