Page 106 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

45

the Kamakura period. This trend toward ing the brown sabi lacquer. The wooden The figure wears the formal attire of a
realism resulted in many fine portraits of ceremonial slat (shaku) in the right hand is high aristocrat of the Heian period: a kan-
well-known personalities from the last half a later addition. SH muri (formal hat indicating court rank), a
of the thirteenth century on. Like the fig- tachi (slung sword), and in his right hand a
ure in cat. 43, Tokiyori wears an eboshi wooden ceremonial slat (shaku). The face
(black court headgear), a kariginu (hunting 45 Miura Yoshiaki is old and wrinkled, but the concentrated,
robe), and sashinuki (baggy pants tied polychromed wood severe gaze and the tightly closed lips con-
around the ankles). The small eyes, which h. 99.5 (391/8) vey inner power.
gaze into the distance, mouth turned Kamakura period, i3th-i4th century The head and body were made from
slightly down at the outer corners, arid up- Manshôji, Kanagawa Prefecture two separate pieces of wood, front and
turned nose capture the individuality of The warrior Miura Yoshiaki (Osuke, 1092- back, and the head was separated from the
the artist's model. The technical execu- body at the neck for further hollowing-out
tion seems to place this work in the later 1180) wielded great power in the Miura Pe- and then reattached. The eyes are crystal.
ninsula (Kanagawa Prefecture) and
half of the thirteenth century. surrounding areas in the late Heian pe- Though the interior was hollowed out, the
The head and body are made of two walls remain thick, making the statue very
pieces of Japanese cypress (hinoki), one riod. When Minamoto Yoritomo (1147- heavy.
each for front and back; separate pieces 1199) rose to attack the Taira clan, Yoshiaki This portrait statue occupies a shrine
are attached for the sides of the body, legs, led the Miura clan in support of Yoritomo. called Gory ó My 5 j in in the Manshôji com-
and the robe, and the eyes are inlaid crys- He was defeated by the Taira, and he died plex. Goryô Myôjin was purportedly built
in battle. Yoritomo, having become sho-
tal. Cloth was glued onto the surface of in 1212. The striking degree of stylization
the statue, then coated with sabi urushi gun in 1192, built Manshôji in honor of of the body suggests that the portrait was
Yoshiaki near the
site of his death
in 1194.
(thick raw lacquer mixed with pulverized made much later, toward the end of the
stone) and over this undercoating black An inscription inside the head of the Kamakura period. Inside the body are
statue states that Minamoto Yoritomo
lacquer was applied followed by white pig- built Manshôji for Yoshiaki. three wooden tablets documenting,
ment, and finally colored pigments. The among other things, the restoration of the
surface has deteriorated, however, expos- statue in 1719. NK
93