Ōshima Joun

Who was Ōshima Joun?

Ōshima Joun was a Japanese sculptor and artist, noted for his great artistry and skill in bronze casting. There appears to be some debate about the correct attribution of the gō Ōshima Joun to either Ōshima Katsujiro or his brother Ōshima Yasutaro. Both were noted artists in metal, and there was another gō in use at the time, Ōshima Shōkaku, but there appears to be confusion about which brother should properly be associated with each of these art names. The Oshima Joun obituary at the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties appears to preference Ōshima Katsujiro taking Ōshima Joun, but an authoritative history of the matter is needed.

The two brothers managed a workshop under the business name Sanseisha, which during the period 1875 to 1879 "produced some of the finest bronzes ever produced in Japan." Old labels on Joun's tomobako suggest that the well-established Ginza, Tokyo purveyor of silver and other fine metal wares Miyamoto-Shoko may also have handled some of Joun's sales.