Hideo Morofuji - Samurai screen pair

Japanese: Paintings: Screens Pre 1940: item #971976

Dating to the 1930's, the two-fold screen pair depicts the legendary samurai general Yoshitsune crossing the Uji river to attack the Taira forces in 1184. The rushing water of the Uji river anchors the foreground and stands in stark contrast to the deftly brushed background fading into the mist. Lightly applied gold flecks simultaneously highlight and veil the scene. The warriors and their horses have been painted with great realism in a myriad of pigments. Painted on paper. The screens are s... Click for details

Yamaguchi Soken (1759-1818) - Young woman

Japanese: Paintings: Scrolls Pre 1900: item #971351

A Maruyama school work by Yamaguchi Soken (1759-1818) which references a popularly illustrated Japanese tale 'Kume no sennin' (Kume the transendent). In this tale Kume, a legendary immortal, soon after learning how to fly passes over the Yoshino river where he spots a young woman washing clothes. The sight of her beauty causes him to fall from the sky and drop at her feet. The woman in Soken's painting is elegantly attired and her hair and makeup allude to Chinese models. She is pictured delicat... Click for details

Bijin with cat

Japanese: Paintings: Scrolls Pre 1930: item #971350

A delightful earlier 20th century (circa 1925/30) painting of a courtesan playing with a cat. She is pictured holding a string ball whilst the cat playfully paws her trailing kimono. The courtesan is almost buried under the weight of her hair ornaments and luxuriously decorated kimono whose maple leaves and rich reds and oranges signify the fall season. Painted on silk with ink, color and gofun the work is in very good original condition in all respects. The scroll measures 84.5 ''... Click for details

Kabuki actor

Japanese: Paintings: Scrolls Pre 1940: item #971349

Titled 'Ginmaku Sai' or 'Star of the theatre' this work shows a kabuki actor in final preparations for a performance, in this case 'Sannin musume'. The title is written on the open playbook. 'Sannin musume' or 'the three girls' was a movie written by Fuji Yahiro in 1929 though whether this preceeded the kabuki play or vice versa I don't know. Interestingly the painting dates to the 1930's. It is the work of an unknown artist by the name of Sasaki Keirin. Painted with ink, pigment and gof... Click for details

5 Unique HP Lacquer Dishes by Shunkyo, Kako, Seiho…

Japanese: Paintings: Other Pre 1920: item #971123
MOR2771

A set of five Meiji period lacquer dishes, the black surface of each uniquely decorated by the best and brightest students of Kono Bairei. Included are Yamamoto Shunkyo, Tsuji Kako, Takeuchi Seiho, Kikuchi Hobun and Taniguchi Kokyo. A beautifully painted lantern-seed pod shows the delicat touch of Shunkyo. Pine cones by Kako show his penchant for abstraction, and the insect on wide green leaves is unmistakably Seiho. Hobuns green leaves and gourd are more detailed, the spinning vines searchi... Click for details

Obi Kimono 2 panel Japanese Silk Screen

Japanese: Paintings: Screens Pre 1980: item #970778
ANR2768

A two panel screen decorated made from panels of woven silk taken from an obi. According to the former owner, their grandmother had the screen made from her wedding kimono obi of Nishijin woven silk, worn only once. It is patterned with books open to palace garden settings, bridges and florals on white ground. THe screen is bodered in a straight-grained raw mulberry frame contrasting nicely and lending the screen a sense of dignity which might be lost with the standard black lacquer. It is b... Click for details

Rare Edo p. Japanese Buddhist Star Mandala

Japanese: Paintings: Scrolls Pre 1800: item #970086
ALR2765

Here is a rare and well depicted representation of the Star Mandala painted in heavy pigment on paper set in a field of green brocade. Mandala are used as symbols of the Buddhist Worlds and objects for meditation in Esoteric Buddhism. To quote Grotenhuis, Stars were considered an important source of supernatural power…The most important of Celestial-Being-centered Mandalas are the Star Mandala. Here we see the central image of Shaka surrounded by various bodies representing the many celestial b... Click for details

Toho (b.1848) - Carp

Japanese: Paintings: Scrolls Pre 1920: item #970082

Three Japanese koi or carp circling gracefully and rhythmically around an expansive pond. The work dates the early 20th century, circa 1915. The lifelike images of the koi have been achieved with ink and gold, the rippled water with ink and soft washes of color. The painting is in very good condition in all respects. I have recently had the scroll re-backed and the upper and lower sections of the silk mounting replaced. The scroll is finished with ivory rollers. The image measures 16 b... Click for details

Edo p. Buddhist Art Scroll, Diamond World Mandala

Japanese: Paintings: Scrolls Pre 1900: item #970023
ALR2765

An Edo period mandala representing the Diamond World (Kongokai) painted with heavy pigment and applied gold on wood-block stamped paper. According to Grotenhuis, The Diamond World represents reality in the Buddha Realm, the world of the unconditioned, the real, the universal and the absolute. Mandala are used as symbols of the Buddhist Worlds and objects for meditation in Escoteric Buddhism. The image is framed with Kinran silk woven with gold thread in a green silk field with brass rollers. ... Click for details

Mochizuki Gyokusen (1834-1913) - Crane and pine screens

Japanese: Paintings: Screens Pre 1910: item #968292

A pair of two-fold screens from the late Meiji period (circa 1900) by Mochizuki Gyokusen. A hulking pine tree dominates the right hand side of the scene before reaching its abrupt conclusion and leading us dramatically onto the left screen. Gyokusen's masterful brushwork imbues each crane with great individuality and presence which is particularly notable amongst the open spaces of the left screen. Applied gold flecks lend the scene a gentle reflectivity which subtly alters the mood with changin... Click for details