Part of Dr Carl Duisberg''s Garden collection exhibition catalogue. Visit our publications page for further details .Naturalistically cast, the large bear, presumably the mother bear, stands on a rock-like pedestal and leans down towards the smaller bear, which lies on its back and playfully raises a paw. The depiction appears very lively and captures a loving or protective interaction between the two animals.Provenance : Acquired by Bayer from Bernheimer by Carl Duisberg prior to 1930 –Condition report :Partial age damage and surface change due to many years of presentation in the park . Mounted to heavy stone baseLiterature :The word for bear in Japanese is (kuma). Two species of bear are native to Japan: The Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and the Hokkaido brown bear (Ursus arctos yesoensis). While the bear does not play a major symbolic role in mainstream Japanese culture and is rarely a central motif in fine or applied arts, it holds deep significance...