Item Description: 舟越保武 Funakoshi Yasutake（1912-2002） This is a bronze bust sculpture entitled "K-jō" (Miss K), a female portrait head mounted on a white marble pedestal, by the celebrated Japanese sculptor Funakoshi Yasutake. The work bears the artist's signature plate "Y. FUNAKOSHI" on the marble base. The sculpture depicts the face of a young girl with extraordinary stillness and refinement — the finely modelled features capture a purity and delicate beauty that are hallmarks of Funakoshi's portraiture. The surface of the bronze is rendered with great sensitivity, conveying warmth and quiet inner life. In his own handwritten note accompanying this piece, Funakoshi wrote that the face of a young girl possesses a mysterious beauty visible only in that fleeting moment of youth — a beauty that is pure, unspoiled, and impossible to fabricate — and that within this small sculpture he strove to express exactly that. The combination of the dark patinated bronze head and the pristine white marble base creates a refined, contemplative presence. The piece comes with the artist's handwritten commentary and a printed biographical chronology. A rare and intimate example of Funakoshi's portraiture in bronze. Size Height: 20.5 cm (overall) Width: 9 cm Depth: 11 cm Weight: 2,028 g / 2.028 kg Condition The piece is in very good overall condition with no notable damage; the bronze head and marble base both present cleanly with only minor age-related surface variation. Artist Profile 舟越保武 Funakoshi Yasutake (1912–2002) is widely regarded as one of the foremost Japanese sculptors of the postwar era. Born in Iwate Prefecture, he entered the Tokyo University of the Arts and graduated in 1939, subsequently participating in the founding of the Shinseisaku Kyokai sculpture division. He taught himself to work in marble, becoming one of the rare practitioners of direct-carving stone sculpture in Japan. His conversion to Catholicism in 1950 deeply influenced his work, which from that point increasingly featured themes of spiritual devotion, feminine grace, and quiet contemplation. His monument to the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Nagasaki earned him the Kotaro Takamura Prize in 1962; he subsequently received the Teijiro Nakahara Prize, the Ministry of Education Arts Award (Geijutsu Sensho Bunkyo Daijin-sho), and was named a Person of Cultural Merit in 1999. He served as Professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts and later as Visiting Professor at Tama Art University. His son, sculptor Katsura Funakoshi, continued the family legacy of figurative sculpture. Funakoshi passed away in 2002 at the age of 89. NOITICE: The lot will be carefully packaged and sent by Japan Post, DHL or FedEx depend on the situation. It takes about 3 weeks to receive normally. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Sometimes Customes or delivery company in your country contact you for Customs clearance via phone or email. Please make sure that you could answer the phone. If you don't, the parcel will return to me and it cost more double shipping fee for reshipping. I appreciate your cooperation.