Caption

Lobster-shaped okimono Ise ebi, bronze figurine, jizai okimono; late 19th century Meiji period, 1868–1912, Japan. This type of lobster is called Ise ebi because many are harvested in Ise Province, Mie Prefecture. The lobster's spiny shell is said to protect people from demons oni and bring good luck. In some regions of Ise Province, there is an old custom of decorating sacred ropes at shrines shimenawa with lobster shells. Sculpture; length 42.0 cm, width 21.0 cm, weight 1.08 kg., A brown sculptural object resembling a crustacean is centered in the image, shown from behind with a segmented tail and a pair of broad, textured tail fins at the foreground; several jointed legs extend outward on both sides, and two long, thin antennae rise vertically from the front. The surface of the object appears metallic with a brown patina and subtle highlights. The background is a smooth gradient transitioning from gray at the top to off-white toward the bottom, and the object casts a faint shadow on the pale surface beneath it.

Credit line

Photo12/Liszt Collection

Reference

LZT26A22_419

License type

Rights managed

Available size

77.2Mb (588.4Kb) / 20.0in x 15.0in / 6000 x 4500 (300dpi)

Keywords

Lobster-shaped okimono Ise ebi bronze figurine jizai okimono late 19th century Meiji period 1868–1912 Japan type lobster called Ise ebi harvested Ise Province Mie Prefecture lobster's spiny shell said protect people demons oni bring good luck regions old custom decorating sacred ropes shrines shimenawa lobster shells Sculpture length 42.0 cm width 21.0 cm weight 1.08 kg brown sculptural object resembling crustacean centered image shown segmented tail pair broad textured tail fins foreground several jointed legs extend outward sides two long thin antennae rise vertically front surface object metallic brown patina subtle highlights background smooth gradient transitioning gray top off-white bottom object casts faint shadow pale surface beneath .