Japanese
Articulated Crab, 1860, Edo Period, 1615-1868
Not on view
Wrought iron
Dimensions1 3/4 × 4 1/4 in. (4.4 × 10.8 cm)
Gift of Angela E. Garrett in memory of her daughter, Julie A. Garrett, 1981.60
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when Japan returned to an Empire, many armor makers adapted their skills to modeling animals. The same techniques used in riveting curved pieces of metal together to form armor were employed to create the exoskeletons of this articulated crayfish and crab
Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan in 1853, forced the Shogun to abandon a policy of isolation and open up diplomatic and trade relations with the West. In the years that followed, a series of reforms abolished feudal holdings (1869) and disbanded the samurai armies of the feudal lords and forbade the wearing of two swords (1876). Without their traditional source of employment, many craftsmen turned their talents to producing work such as the articulated animals in this exhibition as well as to producing sculpture for export to the new Western markets.
