Catalog: Archives: Regional Art: Asian (611)

A large screen depicting a samurai replete with the Jakumei crest of the Takeda Clan rearing his horse in a shout of battle, wand extended at arms length giving the order to charge. The horse appears to be fighting panic, possibly at the deafening sound of the guns of Oda Nobunaga, a sound which brought in the modern era of warfare to Japan in a pitched battle between Oda forces and those of Takeda Shingen. The scene is depicted in a typical Meiji Rekishiga-style, light pigments on silk, wrapped in a green silk border with black lacquered frame. Each panel is 77.5 x 193 cm (30-1/2 x 76 inches). Overall it is in fine condition, with some toning to the silk typical of age, and one light indentation on the far left panel about 1 cm (1/2 inch) long. The screen is signed Beizan Utsuru, followed by a stamp which appears to read Tanryo. Matsubara Beizan was an award winning Meiji era artist based in Tokyo.

A very rare pair of porcelain vases decorated with Plum Pine and Bamboo by Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kozan I enclosed in the original signed wooden box titled Makuzu Gama Seika Shochikubai no Shuku-ga Kabin (Makuzu Kiln Plum Pine and Bamboo Celebratory Image Vases). Bamboo rise up majestically, the blossoming plum branches wrapping opposite each other, with baby pines growing on the back. All traditional symbols of celebration. The vases are roughly 25 cm (10 inches) tall each and in excellent condition, retaining their original rosewood stands. An inscription inside the lid states they were received from Hanzan (Kozan II) as a gift commemorating the wedding of Arishima Takeo in 1910 and held in the Arishima family collection.
The name Kozan was granted by Prince Yasui-no-Miya in 1851 in honor of the tea ware produced during the later Edo for the imperial Court by the tenth generation head of the Kyoto pottery family Miyagawa Chozo. The Kozan (Makuzu) kiln as we know it today was established in Yokohama in 1871 by the 11th generation head of the family where he reinvented the family business. He immediately set out on a journey which would propel the Kozan name to International Celebrity status, and send his wares throughout the globe. Pieces produced there were marked Kozan, or Makuzu, the official kiln name, or both. Although he had been running the daily operation since the late 19th century, the first son, Hanzan, succeeded as head of the kiln, in 1912, with the father officially retiring to spend more time on his own research and art. Kozan I dies in 1916. The kiln was run by Hanzan through the early Showa era, he officially taking the name Kozan II in 1917, after one year mourning for his fathers passing. Under Hanzan the kiln was commissioned for works to be presented to the Prince of Wales, the 25th wedding anniversary gift for the Taisho emperor and the Showa Emperors coronation gift. The kiln was completely destroyed in the bombing of Yokohama in 1945. For more on this illustrious family see Bridging East and West, Japanese Ceramics from the Kozan Studio by Kathleen Emerson-Dell.

A skeleton sits in meditation, dried autumn grasses rustling in the wind the only sound on this unusual Edo period scroll. Above is an epitaph reading: Impermanence takes life like wind strips the petals from a flower, Neither Gods nor Saints can evade, Evil within mars the spirit, Lofty stature or humble servitude, All fall prey, Yet all can be forgiven. To the right of the seated figure is a tablet covered in Sanskrit characters. The age darkened paper is bordered in sumptuous copper brocade with an inner frame of gold laced plum and features black lacquered wooden rollers. The scroll has been completely remounted, reflecting the original design. It is 18-1/2 by 53 inches (47 by 134 cm) and is in good condition for the age, with some minor insect damage to the paper surface, and loss to the white gofun powder forming the seated figure.

A colorful and impressive scroll featuring a bushy tailed neko-tora, or cat tiger from the late Edo period. The neko-tora is a by-product of the Japanese closed border policy, rigorously enforced during the Edo period, which eliminated outside trade and influence. Therefore, Japanese artists were forced to come up with their own ideas of what a fearsome tiger looked like based upon older paintings and skins. This is one of the most imaginative and detailed I have yet seen, with each standing hair individually painted. The cat, stopping to drink from a stream, stands before a crooked pine, caught at the moment it sights an enemy, its bulbous green eyes staring past twitching whiskers, ears flattened against its head. The sinewy creature is well depicted as is the Kano style lines in the background plants trees and waterfall. The scene is framed in dark, purple silk embellished with fan shapes, and ebony rollers. Despite some creasing, the scroll is still very presentable and would be an eye-catching hanging. It measures 29-3/4 by 69-1/4 inches (75.5 by 176 cm)

A vibrant bowl in the shape of an aubergine decorated with soaring cranes and clouds by Heian Isso enclosed in the original artist signed wooden box, the inside of which is decorated with a wispy poem by friend and compatriot Otagaki Rengetsu. The bowl is large at 26 x 29.5 x 7 cm (10 x 11-1/2 x 3 inches) and is in excellent condition. This is a very interesting piece, clearly made by Isso, but the box decorated by Rengetsu, showing the depth of their friendship and artist relationship.
Hinazuru no A young crane
yukusue tooki his timeless voice heard from afar—
koe kike ba an imperial reign
miyo wo chitose to for a thousand generations
utau nari keri to celebrate in song.
According to the book Black Robe White Mist one of Rengetsu’s best known ceramic collaborators was Isso (dates unknown). A number of pieces bear his stamp, indicating that h produced the hand formed vessels while Rengetsu decorated them.
Otagaki Rengetsu was born into a samurai family, she was adopted into the Otagaki family soon after birth, and served as a lady in waiting in Kameoka Castle in her formative years, where she received an education worthy of a Lady of means. Reputed to be incredibly beautiful, she was married and bore three children; however, her husband and all children died before she was twenty. Remarried she bore another daughter, however that child too perished and her husband died while she was just 32. Inconsolable, she cut off her hair to join the nunnery at Chion-in Temple, where she renounced the world and received the name Rengetsu (Lotus Moon). However, this was not the end, but only the beginning of a career as artist and poet which would propel her to the top of the 19th century Japan literati art world.

A very rare 19th century elaborate head dress (Kanmuri or crown) of gilded parts inset with glass surmounted by a phoenix flanked by two dragons for use in the Japanese Noh Theater. A golden phoenix takes flight from the peak, surrounded by sun, moon and flaming jewel from which are suspended extravagant chains of glass and coral beads and gilded ornaments. Made of brass, paper, wood and thin wire, the entire is covered in gold with the sun and moon in enamel and burning jewels in glass. On the stand it is roughly 2 feet (58 cm) tall. Overall it is in very nice condition, enclosed in a beautiful 19th century wood box with brass hardware titled Tenkan (heavenly crown). This is the Tenkan which inspires the drama “Hagoromo” or The Feather Mantle.

A magnificent and seldom found set of Ao or Blue-Bizen Tokkuri Sake decanters dating from the Edo period enclosed in an ancient kiri-wood box. The hand-turned pieces are in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks. The undecorated clay of each pinched vessel is an unusual shade of blue/gray, thus the name. Each piece measures roughly 6 inches (15 cm) tall. An exceptional and highly sought after addition to a collection of Japanese ceramics.

A set of five exquisite Sencha Tea Cups of crackle-glazed pottery covered outside with black lacquer decorated with golden plum blossoms. Each bears an impressed seal in the base reading Toyosuke from the Nagoya studio of Toyoraku (also read Horaku) dating from the later 19th century. Inside each cup is a stylized single plum blossom. This set is exceptional! It is enclosed in a custom made wooden box. Each is 6.2 cm (2-1/2 inches) diameter, 4.8 cm (2 inches) tall and in excellent condition.
The Toyoraku tradition began in the mid 1700s, however it was the fourth generation head of the household (Toyosuke IV 1813~1858) who moved the kiln to Kamimaezu in Nagoya and began applying lacquer and Maki-e to the works. He was succeeded by his son, Toyosuke V (d. 1885) who passed the kiln to his own son Toyosuke VI, (d. 1917), who was highly lauded in his lifetime and made pottery on order of the Meiji emperor, his pieces being selected for international exhibition. However from the later Meiji he concentrated on Raku-ware, and the lacquer tradition mostly disappeared from the family ouvre.

A raw earthen bottle hand formed for sake and engraved with a poem by Otagaki Rengetsu. It is 5-1/4 inches (13.5 cm) tall and in fine condition. The poem reads:
Fuyubata no On the Daikon Leaves
Oone no kuki ni In a winter field
Shimo Sae Te Frost gleams
Asatode Samushi Going out in the morning I feel cold
Okazaki no sato Here in Okazaki village
Much has been written about the life and work of poet/artist Otagaki Rengetsu. Born into a samurai family, she was adopted into the Otagaki family soon after birth, and served as a lady in waiting in Kameoka Castle in her formative years, where she received an education worthy of a Lady of means. Reputed to be incredibly beautiful, she was married and bore three children; however her husband and all children died before she was twenty. Remarried she bore another daughter, however that child too perished and her husband died while she was just 32. Inconsolable, she cut off her hair to join the nunnery at Chion-in Temple, where she renounced the world and received the name Rengetsu (Lotus Moon). However this was not the end, but only the beginning of a career as artist and poet which would propel her to the top of the 19th century Japan literati art world.

A framed calligraphy fan painting by important Edo period poet Kawano Tetsuto (1825-1867), published in the book Shijin Kano Tetsuto (1932). The ancient paper fan is mounted in a field of gold flake bordered with black lacquered wood, the frame measuring 11-1/2 by 23-1/2 inches (29 x 59.5 cm). There is one spot of damage to the flecked gold mounting in the lower right (see photos). Tetsuto was an influential poet and scholar of the late Edo period, trained in the arts under Yoshida Kakusen and Somekawa Seigan. Forced to read by his father, he began studying Confucian theory at the age of 6, and by 11 had mastered the 100 Sanyoshi poems, to be called a genius. Two years later he became a pupil of Shirotani Junji. He lived rather freely, loving wine, song and women. He wrote the poems Ho-no-Kai-ko and Shuengai-Nishu and was also a well known flute player. In 1862, five years before his death, he was elevated to the position of a guardian (hanshu Seiwako Oban Gashira) at Nijo castle in Kyoto. During his life he established a school in Osaka; his most famous disciples were Noguchi Shoyo and Yagi Tenkawa. In 1867 he died of complications from diabetes. 60 years after the passing of Tetsuto, his work remained so important; his rank was again elevated by the Showa Emperor in 1928. A copy of the book in which this piece was published is included with the sale.

Feeling frisky that day, perhaps a wry self portrait by this most famous of Nuns, Otagaki Rengetsu with a poem brushed above in her unique script.
Hito hakaru The trickster
Sagano no harano In the Fields of Sagano
Yufumagure At Twilight
Onoka obana ya Tail in the Pampas grass
Sode to misuran Will it seem a sleeve
There is something very human about this depiction, perhaps the nose…The Hakuzosu (Fox spirit) is a popular theme surrounding the superstition that foxes transform themselves into human form to bewitch the unwary, particularly at twilight. Perhaps the final reference to a sleeve is that of the beguiler, the sleeve of a kimono draped for the seduction of a passing man. Performed with ink on paper in a silk border, the scroll is 10-1/4 x 65-1/2 inches (26 x 166.5 cm) and in overall fine condition. The word obana, written with characters meaning "tail-flower," is classic poetic diction for susuki autumn grass signifying Sagano, a place name often used in poetry as a pun on saga, "one's nature." For a similar image with this poem see the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York (Gift of Donald Keene).
Much has been written about the life and work of poet/artist Otagaki Rengetsu. Born into a samurai family, she was adopted into the Otagaki family soon after birth, and served as a lady in waiting in Kameoka Castle in her formative years, where she received an education worthy of a Lady of means. Reputed to be incredibly beautiful, she was married and bore three children; however her husband and all children died before she was twenty. Remarried she bore another daughter, however that child too perished and her husband died while she was just 32. Inconsolable, she cut off her hair to join the nunnery at Chion-in Temple, where she renounced the world and received the name Rengetsu (Lotus Moon). However this was not the end, but only the beginning of a career as artist and poet which would propel her to the top of the 19th century Japan literati art world.

An incredibly detailed mid to late 19th century Izushi-yaki Hakuji (white porcelain) image of a samurai and his lover enjoying a moment together; the robes, accessories and musculature being extremely well shaped. The pair are made of solid white clay, sculpted in the style and with the attention to detail typical of Hirado ware however the glaze is more textured than work expected of that region, indicative of Izushi. There are several chips: the mans left foot, tobacco pouch and right fingers and the womans hair, as well as a repair to the back fold in the womans loose kimono. The couple measure approximately 4 inches (10.5 cm) tall, 5-3/4 inches (15 cm) wide. They are enclosed in an ancient wooden box inscribed with the date 1930, and stating the piece was acquired or received in April by Sakuragawa Umetoshi. The sculpture pre-dates the box by many years.

A most exciting find, a scroll by five of the greatest scholar-painters of the Meiji period, Tanomura Chokunyu, Suzuki Hyakunen, Tomioka Tessai, Nyoi Sanjin and Yamanaka Shinten-o; all of whom resided in Kyoto during the Meiji period. Ink on paper in a brown cloth border befitting the Daoist figures. It comes in an annotated by by Tessai from 1911. The scroll is 29-1/4 x 75-1/2 inches (74 x 192 cm) and is in excellent condition.
Nyoi Sanjin (Tani Tetsuomi, 1822-1905) was born the son of a Doctor serving the powerful Ii clan of the Hikone fief on the Tokaido road between Kyoto and Tokyo. Trained as a samurai and a doctor (including Western medicine in Nagasaki), he sided with the imperialist cause during the troubled times of the 1850s and 60s while working as a Doctor in Hikone. He served in governmental posts after the restoration of the Emperor in 1867, retiring to Kyoto in the 1880s.
Suzuki Hyakunen (1825-1891) was born in Kyoto and studied under Yokoyama Kakei. He served as a professor at the Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting (modern University of Art) and thus mentor to many young artists of his day, including his own son Suzuki Shonen. Works by him are held in the V&A, Ashmolean, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Philadelphia Museum of Art, University of Michigan as well as a host of Domestic institutions.
Tanomura Chokunyu (1814-1907) was born in Oita (the Oka Feif) and studied initially under Okamoto Baisetsu before moving to paint under the famous literatus Tanomura Chikuden (1777-1835), who adopted him as a son and had a very strong influence on the young artist. Upon Chikudens death he also studied briefly under Oshio Chusai (1792-1837) then finally ventured out on his own upon that teachers passing. He moved to Kyoto, where he helped found the Kyoto Municipal School of painting and eventually withdrew from the world, becoming an Obaku Zen Monk in 1902.
Tomioka Tessai (1837-1924)was a scholar artist trained from age seven in the traditional Confucian manner. After the death of his father he was apprenticed to a Shinto shrine, and later was forced to escape the capitol to Kyushu to avoid arrest for anti-governmental actions he had taken on part of the Imperial cause. Here he began serious study of Literati painting and furthered his scholarly research. Upon returning to Kyoto he was befriended by and moved to work under Otagaki Rengetsu, from whom he was heavily influenced. He helped to establish the Nihon Nanga-In and held a number of important positions, culminating in being appointed the official painter of the Emperor and a member of the Imperial Art Academy; the highest honor in Japanese Art circles. He is represented in innumerable important collections. Information on this important person is readily available, for more see Scholar Painters of Japan by Cahill (1972), Roberts Dictionary, or a quick internet search will find plenty of reading. He is held in the Tokyo National Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Kyoto, V&A etc…
Yamanaka Shinten-o (Seittsu 1822-1885) was born near Nagoya in the village of Higashiura, the second son of a wealthy farming family. After studying in Osaka with scholar Shinozaki Shochiku (1781-1851), he moved after to Kyoto where he became a member of the anti-governmental movement supporting restoration f the Emperor. Following the repression of 1858 when many opposition figures were arrested and executed, Shinten’o went to Ise and studied with Saito Setsudo (1791-1865) for three years before returning to Kyoto. He was an active supporter of imperial loyalists, providing food and money to the troops fighting to establish the new regime. In recognition of his support he was appointed to a series of governmental posts. In 1873 he quit the world of politics to begin a quiet life of scholarly pursuits in the Shimogamo area of Kyoto and established a sprawling villa in Arashiyama so well regarded was that the Meiji Emperor stayed there during his 1877 visit to Kyoto.

A pair of 19th century screens by important artist Mori Kansai. Ink and applied gold flake on paper in a patterned silk border with black lacquered wooden frame featuring fine brass hardware. Each is 376 x 171 cm (148 x 67-1/2 inches). This was sold at auction on May 19 1917 from the collection of turn of the century actor Takata Minoru (1871-1916), and is published in the book Photographic Archive of Japanese Paintings, Maruyama Shijo School Volume 2 with copies of the original catalog photographs included.
Mori Kansai (1814-1894)was born the son of a nurse to the Ishida Clan in the castle town of Hagi. He went to study painting under Mori Tetsuzan, and was adopted into that family, however with his Ishida clan connections found himself afoul of the Shogunate as the Ishida clan took the Imperial side in the Meiji restoration. After the fall of the Edo government, he opened a School in Kyoto where he held considerable influence on the next generation of Nihonga painters. He is held in the collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Fogg Art Museum of Cambridge, Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto among many others.

A set of five porcelain tea cups by Ninnami Dohachi decorated with bamboo and poetry by Nukina Kaioku (Suo) enclosed in a superb custom period kiri-wood box with rosewood edges. Each cup is 2 inches (5 cm) tall, 2-1/2 inches (6 cm) diameter. There are old gold repairs to two of the cups, otherwise are in fine condition.
Nukina Kaioku (1778-1863) was born into a samurai family in Awa, on the island of Shikoku a patron of the Hachisuka clan. In frail health, he was excluded from the strict rigours of the martial arts, but was trained in the typical Confucian education based on Chinese classics, painting and calligraphy, at which he excelled. He went to Koyasan to study Buddhism, Literati arts in Nagasaki and advanced Confucian studies in Edo(Tokyo). He settled in Kyoto where he established the Shuseido Academy teaching Confucian studies, and his circle was extremely influential in the waning days of the Edo government, especially among loyalists. Works by this artist can be found in the British Museum, Brooklyn Museum, The Walters Art Museum, Honolulu Museum, as well as a plethora of domestic museums in cluding MOMAT, Homma, Imabari, Itabayashi etc.
The Dohachi Kiln was established in Awataguchi by a retainer of Kameyama fief, Takahashi Dohachi I around 1760, and the name Dohachi was brought to the forefront of porcelain and ceramic production by the second generation head of the family who attained an imperial following, and grew to be one of the most famous potters of the Later Edo period to come from Kyoto.
Ninnami Dohachi (1783-1855) was born the second son of Takahashi Dohachi I in Kyoto. He opened a kiln in the Gojo-zaka area of Kyoto (at the foot of Kiyomizu temple) in 1814. Well known for research into and perfection of ancient Chinese and Korean forms long held in high esteem in Japan, and at the same time working to expand the family reputation within tea circles, along with contemporaries Aoki Mokubei and Eiraku Hozen became well known as a master of porcelain as well as Kenzan and Ninsei ware. Over the following decades he would be called to Takamatsu, Satsuma, Kishu and other areas to consult and establish kilns for the Daimyo and Tokugawa families as well as Nishi-Honganji Temple. He is also held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Kyoto National Museum among others.
The third generation (1811-1879) was known as Kachutei Dohachi and continued the work of his father, producing an abundance of Sencha tea ware and other porcelain forms, maintaining the highest of standards and ensuring the family place in the anals of Kyoto ceramics well into the Meiji period.

A rare yari-no-saya of course bristles blossoming tuft-like from a 7 inch black lacquered wooden sheath bound with strips of bamboo resting on a four legged hardwood stand. The Edo period piece is in excellent condition, with only minor damage to the wooden ring about the bottom of the tuft. It is made to take a spear head over 8 inches long.

An unusual decorative wooden sword (tea room sword) carved of hardwood in the shape of a dried fish signed on the belly pierced and wrapped with a faded silk chord. An excellent example of the genre it is 13-1/2 inches (34 cm) long and in fine condition.
It is said that these wooden swords were produced from the mid to late Edo period, in lieu of swords for those not allowed to carry weapons (all but samurai). During the Edo it is true that commoners wore them to ward off evildoers at night, generally heavier versions which would double as a truncheon, and later as statements of fashion akin to other sagemono. We have found however that their production lasted through the opening years of the 20th century, as long accustomed ornaments of fashion in the tea room (where even samurai were not allowed bladed weapons). To the repertoire of bokuto and doctors sword, we thus add the name Chato, or tea sword, as they were commonly referred to in Kyoto. As with other members of the sagemono group, they were most often made by carvers of Netsuke.

A radical image by the outlandish Doi Goga featuring a black devil and its child. The child reaches up to the monster, while the monster seems to be giving him a raspberry, his toungue flailing in the air. Ink on paper, it has been completely restored in beige cloth border with bone rollers reflecting the original mounting. The scroll is 42 x 181 cm (16-1/2 x 71-1/4 inches) ad is in excellent condition. Doi Goga (1818-1880) was a Confucian scholar of the late Edo to Meiji periods. He was born the son of a doctor serving the lords of Ise (modern Mie prefecture), home of the gods and Ise Shrine. A child prodigy, he studied under Ishikawa Chikugai and Saito Setsudo. The early death of his father saw him succeed the family head at the age of 12. He would serve later as a teacher in the official government school. He held strong opinions and was very critical of the hypocrisy and corruption he saw in military government and in Confucianism itself. His works began to see the light of day in the early Meiji period, however due to their inflammatory nature, much was left unpublished until after his death. Known for paintings of bamboo and landscapes, his Dojin figures are rare and highly sought.