A COPPER JIZAI OKIMONO OF A LOBSTERJapan, 19th centuryThe sculpture - made with the assembly of several independent pieces, a technique that allows the total mobility of the artifact - describes the crustacean in a hyper-realistic way, the surface details rendered with attention to even the smallest detail, signed 払美作 (?).55 cm longProvenance: Italian private collection.Sculptures like this, called jizai ("free display objects"), were made in Japan from the 18th century. This production was mainly dedicated to those workshops of artists until then specialized in the manufacture of armor, less and less sought after as a result of the long period of peace in which the country lived.