The Kura - Japanese Art Treasures

Robert Mangold has been working with Japanese antiques since 1995 with an emphasis on ceramics, Paintings, Armour and Buddhist furniture.

Antique Japanese Christian Scroll Triptych by Shizan


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Directory: Archives: Regional Art: Asian: Japanese: Pre 1930: Item # 1444420

Please refer to our stock # R012 when inquiring.
The Kura
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23 Murasakino Monzen-cho
Kita-ward Kyoto 603-8216
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A very unusual set of three scrolls depicting the women of Shimabara looking down with trepidation at a Fumi-e (a Christian symbol) before lotus enclosed in a wooden box titled Shizan Shimabara-me Sanpuku Tsui (Shizan, Women of Shimabara Three Scroll Set). The Fumi-e was a bronze or wood placard embellished with a Christian symbol upon which people were forced to step to prove that they were not Christians during the ban on Christianity throughout most of the Edo period. Any who refused to step on the image would be tortured or executed, often in horrific manner. Here the two graceful figures appear dressed in kimono bearing a leaf pattern with white scarves on their heads denoting purity. Interestingly the artist has juxtaposed the central image with its symbol of Christ on the cross against a background of ghostly white lotus flowers, traditional symbols of Buddhism. Each scroll is 64.5 x 208 cm (25-1/2 x 82 inches). There is faint scattered foxing, a soft wrinkle in the lotus on the central scroll, and some water stains up the left edge of the painting on the right. Likely an early work by Saito Shizan. Saito Shizan (1902-1963) was born in Shiga prefecture in 1902, and initially studied under Yamamoto Shunkyo in the modern Shijo style before entering the Kyoto Municipal University of Arts. He was accepted into the Teiten, Bunten and Nitten national exhibitions both pre and post war.
The Shimabara rebellion (1637-1638) was the largest uprising against the Feudal government during the Edo period. In response to oppressive taxation and anti-Christian policies by feudal lords sent to replace the former Christian Daimyo, Ronin and peasants rose up, eventually forming an army of combatants and non-combatants of around 37,000. They nearly seized two main fortresses before the Shogun sent an army of over 125,000 samurai against them. They retreated to Hara Castle on Shimabara, where they held out until April of that year, withstanding many mass assaults and bombardment by cannon of the Dutch seeking favor with the Shogunate. Eventually the castle fell, and all rebels were beheaded or crucified, their bodies piled inside the castle and burnt en-masse. On the Shimabara peninsula, most towns experienced a severe to total loss of population as a result of the rebellion. Japan severed ties with Portugal and expelled all missionaries. An existing ban on Christianity was then stringently enforced, and Christianity in Japan survived only underground. Except for the Dutch and a small contingent of Chinese merchants in Nagasaki, Japan then closed itself to the outside world for over 200 years. The Fumi-e became the dominant symbol of religious oppression, the ban on Christianity not officially lifted until 1871 (although the shogunate stopped executing Christians around the turn of the 19th century).