Unknown artist

Meiji / Taisho, 19th/20th century

1868-1926

Painting

An ink and coloured painting on silk bordered in silk mounts and bone jikusaki (scroll ends). The painting depicts Emperor Jimmu sitting on a rock with his strung bow. Two Japanese chronicles record Jimmu as being the first Emperor of Japan. He travelled eastward from Hyuga in 607 bc along Japan’s Inland Sea, subduing tribes as he went and ending in Yamato, where he established his centre of power.

Jimmu is said to have been a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu through her grandson Ninigi. Ninigi was sent down to govern Earth, and he married a descendant of the storm god Susanoo.

Signed in a gold pot seal

Scroll size 588mm x 1875mm

Painting size 410mm x 1054mm

Yoshio

Taisho, Showa period, 20th century

1912-1989

Painting

An ink and coloured painting on silk bordered in silk mounts and kutani porcelain jikusaki (scroll ends). The paintings depict a sleeping bijin (beautiful woman). She is resting on her hand while using her kimono sleeve for comfort.

Signed Yoshio with red seal

Scroll size 538mm x 1398mm

Painting size 371mm x 495mm

Seizan

Taisho / Showa period, 20th century

1926-1940

Painting

An ink and coloured painting on silk bordered in silk mounts and bone jikusaki (scroll ends). The painting depicts a red Koi carp leaping from the water and a dark Koi carp below. What looks like two carp at the base is the same fish, the artist has painted a faded version of the carp moments before trying to give movement to the image.

Signed Seizan

Scroll size 539mm x 1886mm

Painting size 354mm x 1153mm

Anonymous

Edo Period 19th century

1615-1868

Woodblock print

This Edo period Japanese woodblock print is known as the Thirteen Buddhas. The Thirteen Buddhas (十三仏, Jūsanbutsu) are a grouping of Japanese Buddhist deities mainly in the Buddhist Shingon sect. The Thirteen Buddhas are not all Buddhas but a mixture of bodhisattvas, buddhas and wisdom kings. In the Buddhist Shingon sect, followers recite a devotional mantra to each deity. It would be common for followers to devote themselves to one particular deity if a teacher found it to be the most appropriate for the student to learn from.

In traditional Buddhist funeral services, it would be important for each deity to have a corresponding memorial service for the deceased. Each deity has a date associated with them:

·         Fudu 7th day

·         Shaka 14th day

·         Monju 21st day

·         Fugen 28th day

·         Jizo 35th day

·         Miroku 42nd day

·         Yakushi 49th day

·         Kannon 100th day

·         Seishi 1st anniversary

·         Amida 2nd anniversary

·         Ashuku 6th anniversary

·         Dainichi 12th anniversary

·         Kokuzo 32nd anniversary

730mm x 250mm

Unsigned

Oku Bunmei

Edo period 19th century

1615-1868

Painting

An ink and coloured painting on silk bordered in silk mounts and wooden jikusaki (scroll ends). The painting depicts a monkey dressed as a Shinto priest, he is dressed in a kimono and hat, he also hold a fan and a staff lays on the floor.

The painter Oku Bunmei was pupil of Okyo Maruyana. He is knowen as one of the best 10 pupils of Okyo. He participated in the production of the decorative painting on sliding doors in Daijo-ji temple.  

Scroll Size 699mm x 1775mm

Painting Size 378mm x 959mm

Signed Oku Bunmei

Takase Shungyo

Meiji/ Taisho period 19/20th century

1868-1926

Painting

An ink and coloured painting on silk bordered in silk mounts and bone jikusaki (scroll ends). A pair of white and grey pigeons are pecking at the ground under a flowering plant.   

Pigeons are thought of as the attendants of the deity Hachiman. In Japan, pigeons have been venerated as sacred birds at Hachiman shrines since ancient times and are loved by many.

Signed Takase Shungyo with red seal

Scroll size 615mm x 1976mm

Painting size 417mm x 1194mm

Chikanobu Yoshu

Title: Attendance at the Kanda Festival

Meiji period, 19th century

1895

Print

A three-part print depicting noble ladies watching a festival parade from the shelter of a room. The women have a selection of food while beautifully dressed in formal kimonos for the occasion. Outside two men are carrying a large war drum with a rooster on top. The symbol of a roster and drum was seen to represent peace and prosperity as the war drum would no longer be needed.

Size 235mm x 350mm each

Watanabe Seitei

Meiji period, 19th century

1868-1912

Painting

An ink and coloured painting on silk bordered in silk mounts and bone jikusaki (scroll ends). I beautifully painted image of four doves in a Japanese maple tree. An almost dream-like image dissolving into the background giving an ethereal feeling.  

Watanabe Seitei (1851-1918), was born as Yoshikawa Yoshimata, and later adopted by Watanabe Mitsue. At the age of sixteen studied under the artist Kikuchi Yosai and soon after spent a brief time in the studio of the renowned artist Shibata Zeshin.

Watanabe Seitei was one of the first artists to visit the United States and Europe attending the 1878 international exhibition in Paris. He remained in Paris for three years and became the first Nihonga artist to live in Europe to study Western painting. On his return from Europe, Seitei created designs for ceramics and cloisonne for the artist Namikawa Sosuke (1847-1910). The similarity in this painting to the wireless cloisonne of Sosuke can be seen.

Signed Watanabe Seitei with red seal

Scroll size 586mm x 1983mm

Painting size 413mm x 1080mm