A Large Japanese Painting of Shogunate Court Ceremony Scene

拍品描述

A Large Japanese Painting of Shogunate Court Ceremony Scene Edo period (1615–1868), 17th or 18th century, ink, color, gold and silver on paper, depicting an elaborate imperial court ceremony in bird's eye view from above, with numerous courtiers and officials arranged according to rank within temporary ceremonial enclosures, dressed in white, black, red and other formal court robes. The scene is divided by broad bands of gold and silver suyari-gasumi (stylized clouds), with pine-decorated screens and a multicolored striped ceremonial pavilion, bearing two red seals, likely collector or ownership seals. Rolled 54 x 3 in., Hanging: DOA 83 1/2 x 54 in., Image size 23 x 42 1/2 in. The unusually broad horizontal composition and continuous suyari-gasumi, architecture, and figural groups suggest that this painting may have originally been a section of a larger emakimono (handscroll), now presented mounted as a hanging scroll. The precise ceremony depicted has not been identified. The carefully prescribed arrangement of officials by rank, temporary viewing enclosures, ceremonial textiles, and court costume correspond with the Edo period representations of ancient imperial ceremonies such as the Nenchu Gyoji Emaki (Illustrated Scrolls of Annual Events) and Chogi Zukan (Illustrated Scrolls of Court Ceremonies). The imagery belongs to the Edo period yamato-e tradition of illustrating ancient imperial court ceremonies and customs practiced by the Tosa and Sumiyoshi schools. Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.lelandlittle.com

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