Page 36 - Bonhams Royal Collection Fine Japanese Art London Nov. 2019

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SHIBATA ZESHIN 柴田是真 (1807–1891)
KAKEJIKU (HANGING SCROLL) DEPICTING SHOKI AND
ONI, WITH FITTED WOOD TOMOBAKO PAINTED BY SHŌJI
CHIKUSHIN 庄司竹真 (1854–1936) AND JIKUSAKI (ROLLER–
ENDS) LACQUERED BY SHŌJI HŌSHIN 庄司芳真 (1898–1993)
朱円窓鍾馗図掛軸
Meiji era (1868–1912), circa 1883, and Showa era (1926–1989), 1929

A hanging scroll painted in ink, colours, and gold on silk depicting
Shōki the Demon-queller in a circular cartouche, dressed in the
robes and cap of a Chinese scholar-official with a formal baton in his
left hand, glowering downwards and to his right at an oni (demon)
dressed in a loincloth, depicted against a red background imitating a
conventional silk mount with scattered flakes of gold, the oni placed
entirely outside the cartouche except for a small part of the green
ribbons trailing behind it, running with a terrified expression toward the
bottom left of the scroll, the scroll completely painted in red apart from
the cartouche, a further shower of gold flakes toward the top;
the jikusaki (roller-ends) decorated with seaweed motifs in gold lacquer
on a roiro ground; signed Hoshin 芳真; the painting signed Gyōnen
nanajūnana-ō Zeshin 行年七十七翁 是真 (Zeshin, aged 77) with a red
seal Tairyūkyo 對柳居

Overall: 164cm × 50cm (64½in × 19⅝in)
Image: 164cm × 41.7cm (64½in × 16⅜in)

With fitted wood tomobako painted on the exterior in mineral colours
with a vertical composition of flowering irises surrounding a red
cartouche inscribed in gold characters Zeshin-ō hitsu shuensō Shōki
zu 是真翁筆朱圓窓鍾馗図 (Picture of Shōki in a circular opening on a
red background); inscribed inside Shōwa yon banshun nanajūroku-ō
Chikushin kan narabi ni hako-e Hōshin jiku tsukuru 昭和四晩春 七十
六翁竹真鑒并筥繪 芳真軸造 (Certified in March 1929 by Chikushin
aged 76 who also painted the box; the roller-ends made by Hōshin),
with three seals; and containing several documents, including a
certificate by Shōji Chikushin inscribed Zeshin-ō hitsu Shuensō Shōki
no zu Shinseki mugi mono nari Chikushin kan 是真翁筆 朱円窓鍾
馗之図 真蹟無疑者也 竹真鍳 (A painting of Shōki in a circular
opening on a red background; this is without doubt a genuine work by
the venerable Zeshin, certified by Chikushin), twice sealed Chikushin
yūkei 竹真有敬 (Respectfully, Chikushin); a postcard addressed to a
Mr Ibata Hiroo 伊端弘雄, sealed Shōji Hōshin 庄司芳真; an exhibition
label giving the work’s title and the name of the owner, Kimura Yasushi
木村靖, sealed twice: Toki ni Shōwa jūgonen shichigatsu jūsannichi 于
時昭和十五年七月十三日 (13 July, 1940) and Zeshin Gojūnen Tsuizen
Kinenten kan in 是真五十年追善記念展観印 (Seal of the Zeshin Fiftieth
Anniversary Memorial Exhibition); and photocopies from the catalogues
for the 1929 auction and 2015 exhibition referred to below; fitted outer
wood storage box (8)

Provenance:
Nakamura Collection, Hamamatsu City, until 1929
中村家（濱松市）旧蔵
Tokyo Art Club, March 25, 1929, lot 28
Kimura Yasushi Collection, by 1940
木村靖旧蔵

Exhibited:
Zeshin Fiftieth Anniversary Memorial Exhibition, Yaozen, Tsukiji,
Tokyo, 1940
Izumi-shi Kubosō Kinen Bijutsukan (Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts,
Izumi) 2015, cat. no. 38
£15,000 - 20,000
JPY1,900,000 - 2,600,000
US$18,000 - 24,000

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