Page 30 - Bonhams Royal Collection Fine Japanese Art London Nov. 2019
P. 30

8  *
           SHIBATA ZESHIN 柴田是真 (1807–1891)
           URUSHI-E (LACQUER PAINTING) OF A FARMER’S HOUSE
           農家図漆絵額
           Meiji era (1868–1912), dated 1888

           An urushi-e painting depicting a peaceful scene of a farmer’s rustic
           dwelling, well maintained but showing its age, in early spring: to the
           right a straw hat and mino (raincoat) hanging on the wall of the house
           by a tree and a ragged sudare (roller blind) hung from the eaves;
           sheaves of rice straw leaning against the walls, and in front a rooster
           and hen pecking grains of rice from a rice-mortar standing on a straw
           mat; the inside of the house with details including smoke rising from
           the hearth with its jizai (adjustable pot hanger), cups in a basket, a pair
           of zōri (straw sandals), a bunch of daikon radishes, a sickle, a stone
           grinding-mill, and an uchiwa (non-folding fan); to the left, two children,
           one barefoot and one wearing zōri, feeding hay to the family ox, a
           spider’s web above its head; in the foreground, a stream with a plank
           bridge and timber reinforcements; all executed in a range of urushi-e
           colours, the smaller child’s kimono with fine shell decoration and the
           plum blossoms in silver foil; parts of the paper decorated with gold
           dust; signed at lower right Gyōnen hachijūni-ō Zeshin 行年八十二翁是真
           (Zeshin, aged 82) with a seal Tairyūkyo 對柳居

           Overall: 61.1cm x 81.4cm (24in x 31⅞in)
           Image: 47.5cm × 67.9cm (18¾in × 26¾in)

           With cloth-bound storage box (2)

           Provenance:
           Grace Tsumugi Fine Art London, 2015, cat. no. 4

           Exhibited:
           Nihon Bijutsu Kyōkai (Japan Art Association), 1888
           Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum), 2012
           Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2017–2018

           Published:
           Gōke 1974, pl. 7
           Gōke 1981a, pl. 140
           Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum) 2012, cat. no. 122
           £30,000 - 50,000
           JPY3,900,000 - 6,500,000
           US$36,000 - 61,000
           This ambitious urushi-e painting shares features with other works by
           Zeshin that reflect his penchant for depicting rustic buildings; parts of
           the composition also echo the lacquer panel offered as lot 14 which
           has some strikingly similar features including the overall placing of
           the house and the outlines of the walls and roof eaves. Zeshin here
           makes a special effort to use urushi (liquid lacquer) to imitate oil paints,
           applying it in a wide variety of thicknesses and textures, from the deft
           strokes of the grasses in the foreground to the thick impasto of the
           thatched roof.

           This painting was exhibited in 1888 at the Nihon Bijutsu Kyōkai
           (Japanese Art Association), winning a silver medal for its ‘remarkable
           technique’.







                                                    For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
           28  |  BONHAMS                           please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.
   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35