Page 141 - Fine Japanese Art Bonhams London May 2018

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NAKAI RANKO (1766-1830) KANO EISHIN (ISEN’IN, 1775-1828)
Edo period (1615-1868), early 19th century Edo period (1615-1868), circa 1816-1828
Kakejiku (hanging scroll); ink and colours on silk mounted in silk, Kakejiku (hanging scroll); ink and colours on gold-washed paper in silk
depicting the sennin Ranko holding a minogame beneath a large tree mounts, depicting a crouching black-and-white cat about to attack
by a stretch of water, signed Ranko sha (Drawn by Ranko) with seals three butterflies flying next to a large flowering peony, signed Isen’in
Tadashi no in, Ranko; with a wooden tomobako storage box inscribed Hoin hitsu (Brushed by Isen’in Hoin) and sealed Eishin; with a wooden
outside Oan Sennin minogame no zu Nakai Ranko hitsu (Picture of tomobako storage box inscribed outside Neko botan no zu Isen’in
Oan Sennin and a minogame, brushed by Nakai Ranko). Overall: hitsu (Picture of a cat and peony, brushed by Isen’in), the interior with
209cm x 73cm (82¼in x 28¾in); 129cm x 56cm (50¾in x 22in). (2). an unrelated inscription.
Overall: 124cm x 71.5cm (48 7/8in x 28 1/8in);
£3,000 - 4,000 image: 35cm x 55cm (13¾in x 21 5/8in). (2).
JPY450,000 - 600,000
US$4,200 - 5,700 £3,000 - 5,000
JPY450,000 - 760,000
Exhibited and Published US$4,200 - 7,100
Kaneko Nobuhisa and Oto Yumiko, Santo gaka kurabe: Kyo, Osaka
o mite Edo o shiru (Artists of the Three Capitals: Learning About Edo Exhibited and Published
Through Kyoto and Osaka), Fuchu, exhibition catalogue, Fuchu Art Kaneko Nobuhisa and Oto Yumiko, Dobutsu kaiga no 250nen
Museum, 2012, cat. no.61. (250 Years of Animal Pictures), Fuchu, exhibition catalogue,
Fuchu Art Museum, 2015, cat. 126.
One of the lesser known sennin, Oan (in Chinese, Heng An) is more
usually shown riding on a minogame (magical hairy-tailed turtle) but here The head of the Kobikicho branch of the Kano academy, based in
he holds it in his arms with a look of triumph and delight because the Edo and official painter to the shogunate, Eishin here executes a
creature only pokes its head out from beneath its shell once in 3,000 distinctively Japanese version of a time-honoured Chinese painting
years. The exaggerated expression of Oan’s face suggests the influence subject, reflecting the vogue in later eighteenth-century Kyoto for more
of the great painter Soga Shohaku (1730-1781), while the powerful lines direct observation of nature. The use of the honorific title Hoin in the
of his robes reflect the artist’s extensive experience as an illustrator of signature indicates that this painting was executed in or after 1816.
black-and-white woodblock-printed books. A native of Osaka, Ranko
was widely schooled in Chinese painting styles and subjects.

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