Okimono or sculpture in the form of a stylized, recumbent hare. Of carved wood, finished to resemble iron. Signed on the reverse by the artist with a carved signature: Hei (Murakami Heijin, the gō or art name of Murakami Akira, 1916 – 1997). Shōwa 31 or 1956.

With the tomobako or original box, inscribed on the exterior of the lid: Usagi or Rabbit; and on the reverse of the lid: Kyō-ten Dai-Jū-Kai Ten Shōtai Shuppin Saku or Made for Exhibition at the 10^th Kyoto Exhibition as an Invited Artist, and dated: Shōwa San-jū-ichi-nen, Gō-gatsu or Shōwa (era) 31^st Year (1956), in May, and signed: Hei Tsukuru or Made by Hei, and sealed: Heijin.

Born in 1916 in the Sano district of Takaoka City, Toyama, Murakami Heijin graduated from the woodworking department of Toyama Prefecture High School in 1933. At the age of 17, he studied under the wood sculptor Hirakushi Denchu (1872 – 1979). He began making sculptures and entered his work in the Inten art exhibitions, winning awards. During this period he moved to Kyoto. In 1959, he left the Inten and joined the Nikikai group. Heijin’s work received numerous awards, including the Minister of Culture Award (Monbu Daijin Shō). As his career advanced, he was invited to serve as a judge on many nationally sponsored juried art exhibitions. He passed away in 1997.

Murakami Heijin sculpted the wood with confident mastery. The abstracted form of the hare projects a powerful presence. The artist textured the surface with his chisel, creating a painterly effect that almost looks as if it were layered with a palette knife. Rich rust brown color darkens along the traces of the chisel, borrowing the massive feeling of iron or steel to complete the sense of modernist abstraction.

6 ¼” high x 14 ¾” long x 6 7/8” wide.

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