Information on Sharp Electronics bronze(?) zodiac statues.

E.Coyote

My grandmother worked as a secretary for sharp for a number of years and was given a handful of stylized metal statues that were given as a gift to the american branch of sharp from the japanese branch. I remember that they came in a box with a letter about the artist and that they were commissioned for sharp, I no longer have the box or letter. My grandmother recently passed away and was wondering if anyone could point me to any information on these. They don't have a makers mark and my google fu has failed to locate any information. Myself and my brother have a dragon, tiger, and rabbit.

I know this is very narrow, but I was always curious about them.

E.Coyote

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E.Coyote

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Akilae

My gut reaction is that these were originally a set of twelve, drawing from the Japanese zodiac. The tiger, rabbit, and dragon only appear together as a set in that context. But that's about the only clue I can contribute.

Second thought: You could try your luck contacting Sharp with this story. The Japanese being who they are, they just might bother digging through their archives to find the answer.

MichaelLC

Just a general tip: don't clean them!
Like you can wipe them with a wet cloth, but don't use any chemicals or scrub then.

E.Coyote

Ayup, dusting is it, we have a bunch of other statues of various sorts.

I did know about the set of twelve, but I'm not 100% that the set was finished. I vaguely remember something about half the set going to the japan branches. I contacted sharp at one point, but they didn't know anything(it's been almost 20 years o.0).