Page 145 - Bonhams Chinese & Asian Works of Art Los Angelis December 14 2020

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ANONYMOUS
Scenes from the Heikei monogatari (The Tale of the Heike)
Edo period (1615-1868), 18th century
A pair of six-panel screens painted in ink, color, gold, and gold leaf on At the far left of the screen is a lone Taira warrior, Atsumori, riding
paper with popular episodes from the epic narrative with the battles of out into the sea, looking back at his pursuer, the Minamoto warrior
Yashima on the right screen, and Ichinotani on the left Kumagae.
50 1/4 x 119 1/2in (127.6 x 303.5cm) each
On the left screen, the Taira forces are shown fleeing in ships with the
$8,000 - 12,000 young Emperor Antoku. At center right the episode of the celebrated
Minamoto archer Nasu no Yoichi about to knock a fan off a pole
The battles of Ichinotani and Yashima were fought between the erected on one of the Taira vessels by striking its retaining pin from a
Minamoto (Genji) and Taira (Heike) clans in early 1185, the climax of a great distance.
five-year war that ended with the total victory for the Minamoto. The
struggles between the two clans were immortalized in the thirteenth-
century novel Heike monogatari (The Tale of the Heike), and it is on that
written account that representations such as these screens are based.
In one of the most famous episodes, shown in the upper center of the
right screen, the Minamoto hero Yoshitsune is descending the steep
ravine of Hiyodorigoe with his mounted followers in a surprise attack
on the Taira stronghold.

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