SHUNGA

Hand-drawn comical 'shunga' (pornographic picture) scroll like cartoon, Showa period, 20th century, Japan. Open: approx. L 230cm (90.55in), Close: approx. L 14 x D 3cm (5.51 x 1.18in)...

A black bird sporting a tufted beak shelters among the thick foliage of fresh bamboo by the easily identifiable and quite rare artist Sakakibara Shiho performed with pigment on silk in the original signed double wood box titled Mosochiku Hakkacho (Crested Myna Bird in Moso Bamboo), a favorite motif by the artist dating from the Taisho period. It is bordered in fine pattered silk threaded with gold and is appointed with solid ivory rollers (these will be changed if exporting)...

MAD POETRY BY SHOKUSANJIN

Hanging scroll with such unstrained and refined calligraphy of 'Kyoka' (lit. 'Mad poetry' - Humorous style of Japanese tanka poetry with joke or irony or satire / ref. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%8Dka) by a late Edo-period Japanese poet, 'Nanpo Ohta' (1749-1823 / ref. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cta_Nanpo) aka 'Shokusanjin' (lit. 'Copper mine man'), circa 1810-1823, Total: approx. 35 x 181.5cm (13.77 x 71.45in)...

Here we have a beautiful scroll with a mounted letter penned by famed Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) who is known as one of the 4 great haiku poets of Japan along with the likes of Bashō, Buson, and Shiki. As one might expect, Kobayashi’s life was one of turbulence punctuated by several tragedies including the death of his mother at an early age and a lengthy legal battle with his step-mother over the family inheritance after the death of his father...

Also known as "The Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life,” here in this pre-Edo Buddhist painting we see Amida and his two assistant bodhisattvas, Seishi on the left (associated with wisdom and strength), and Kannon on the right (associated with compassion and mercy), descending from the Western Pure Land to welcome newly deceased believers into the realm of paradise...

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a skeleton. Realistically rendered for use in a doctor's office. Great detail and shading. Frontal view with a top view of the foot. Painted in sumi-e ink and light colors on paper. Signature seal.

Dimensions: Total size: 77 1/2" high x 27 3/4" wide (30 1/2" wide including rollers). Size of art: 55" high x 23 1/4" wide.

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a koi jumping up a waterfall. Symbolizing strength, perseverance and aspiration, the large koi moves against the raging water which crashes below in a torrent of waves. Painted in sumi-e ink and white gofun on paper.

Age: Edo Period (1603-1867)

Dimensions: Total size: 72 1/2" high x 24 3/4" wide (26 1/2" wide including rollers). Size of art: 50 1/4" high x 20 3/4" wide.

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a tiger. Every strand of his striped fur is painted. The tiger stands under a pine tree, facing the viewer. His mouth is open, displaying large teeth. Painted in ink and light colors on paper. With artist's seals.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: Total size: 74" high x 24 1/2" wide (76 1/2" wide including rollers). Size of art: 46" high x 18 1/4" wide.

Antique Japanese scroll painting depicting a view of lush garden flowers. Large yellow and red poinsettia and cockscomb grow beside a bamboo fence. Painted in mineral colors on silk. Signed by 祥雲 Shо̄un ("Auspicious Cloud"). A label identifies the artist as as Nonouchi Yasutarо̄ (Nonouchi is the family name), who used the artist name Shо̄un until 1932. After that he used his original given name Yasutarо̄, but this one has the Shо̄un seal, so it should be from 1932 or earlier.)...

Antique Japanese scroll painting depicting a pair of skeletons dancing beneath a poem. The poem is signed Shinyodojin. Painted in ink on paper.

Dimensions: Total size: 74 1/2" high x 14" wide (15 3/4" wide including rollers). Size of art: 50 3/4" high x 9 1/2" wide.

Antique Japanese scroll painting of a ghost leering over a painted screen. The specter's long hair falls over the image of a weeping willow, a tree often associated with ghosts and spirits. Painted in ink on silk. Signed and sealed: Chokuto-sei.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: Total size: 71 1/2" high x 20 1/2" wide (22 3/4" wide including roles). Size of art: 41 3/4" high x 15 3/4" wide

Antique Japanese scroll painting depicting a dead man being whisked away in a flaming carriage bound for hell. He is escorted by three demons brandishing weapons and pulling the cart through clouds of smoke. A section of the poem translates as "whether old or young, rich or poor [...] on the fiery carriage..." Painted and signed by the artist Kawamura Jakushi (1638-1707) with a verse possibly written by Banjisei...

Japanese scroll painting of a group of scholarly skeletons. At the top of the image, three skeletons drink tea while viewing scrolls. One skeleton displays a scroll on which the artist has signed his name. Other skeletons enjoy music played on a koto while others play go, paint scrolls and make tea. Painted in sumi-e ink and light colors on paper.

Dimensions: Total size: 78 1/2" high x 26" wide (28 1/4" wide including ends). Size of art: 52" high x 20" wide

Japanese scroll painting of a ghostly woman standing in a shoji doorway. Her robes are white, the color of death and her hair falls unkept around her shoulders. Tendrils of flame appear where rays of light shine down at an angle to catch on her sleeve. Painted in mineral colors and ink on silk.
Painted by Obata Chiura (1885-1975), painter and first professor of Japanese painting at University of California, Berkeley. Born in Ibara-cho and raised in Sendai, Japan...

Japanese scroll painting of 3 skeletons celebrating Obon. One skeleton dances with a fan while two others pay a drum and a shamisen. The Obon festival happens in summer and is a time to honor the dead with music, dance, parades and other events. It is believed that ancestors' spirits return to the world of the living during Obon. Painted in ink and light colors on silk...

Japanese scroll painting of two skeletons hard at work counting money. The calligraphy verse up top appears to be influenced by the Confucian scholar, Kameda Bosai and is sealed Gakubutsu. Below, the skeletons pour over accounting ledgers next to a large scale. This painted portion of the scroll is sealed Nisekisai. Painted in sumi-e ink on paper.

Dimensions: 81 1/2" high x 30 3/4" wide (33" wide including rollers). Size of art: 53" high x 26 3/4" wide

Japanese scroll painting of skeletons, one dancing and one playing a shamisen. Strewn over the ground are skulls and a giant gourd filled with drink. The calligraphy on the top of the scroll states that even the great sage Boddhidaruma and the beautiful Onna no Komachi are Doitsu Byodo (the same as the rest of us) when their flesh is stripped away...

Scroll painting of a female ghost appearing out of the mist near a waterfall...