Page 166 - Fine Japanese Art Bonhams London May 2018

321 * Provenance
ARTIST UNKNOWN Purchased by the present owner in Akita Prefecture, circa 2006-2007.
A Rare and Important Early Six-Panel Folding Screen Depicting
Female Proto-Kabuki, Momoyama (1573-1615) or On deposit at Kyoto National Museum, 2012-2014.

early Edo (1615-1868) period, circa 1610-1620 In the first decades of the seventeenth century, a woman by the name
A chubyobu (medium-sized screen) of six panels, painted in ink, of Izumo no Okuni both shocked and delighted the inhabitants of
colours and gold on paper, depicting a performance by the Okuni Kyoto by performing kabuki odori (‘wild and unorthodox dancing’) on
kabuki troupe at the Kamo Riverbed in Kyoto: from right to left an
outdoor sumo-wrestling bout, labourers carrying loads of charcoal, the dry riverbed of the Kamo River and at Kitano Shrine. Leading a
troupe of female outcasts whom she trained in dancing and singing
travellers crossing a bridge over the Kamo River, vendors seated on skills acquired during her time as a shrine maiden in her native Izumo
the ground selling their wares, loincloth-clad swimmers, fishermen, Province, Okuni developed a new style of theatrical performance
the theatre entrance with a taiko drummer, weapons and spectators characterized by lively action, colourful costumes, sexual innuendo
on a yagura (elevated scaffold), a crowd of excited male and female
spectators, a female kabuki performance (see below) and revelling and humour. Her growing popularity and use of an all-female cast
attracted official displeasure and in 1629 the shogunal authorities
picknickers; with a storage box and an earlier wooden frame and issued an edict forbidding women from taking part in theatrical
base. Overall: 101cm x 258cm (39¾in x 101 5/8in); performance, thus unwittingly laying the foundations for the world-
image: 87.5cm x 245cm (34½in x 96½in). (3).
famous dramatic genre we now call kabuki, with men playing both
male and female roles.
£80,000 - 100,000
JPY12,000,000 - 15,000,000
US$110,000 - 140,000

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
164 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.