![ANONYMOUS: Taketori monogatari (The Tale of the Shining Princess); no colophon, n.d. [17th century]; emakimono (handscroll), 3 vols. (32 x 1785.5cm., 32 x 1711.2cm., 32 x 1481.4cm.); manuscript, two vols. of text in black ink on decorated paper; one vol. of illustrations in ink, color, gold and silver and gold leaf on paper](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2001/NYR/2001_NYR_09728_0154_000(032459).jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Also known as The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, The Tale of the Shining Princess is believed to have been written between the mid-ninth and mid-tenth centuries. One of Japan's most popular tales, transcribed and illustrated repeatedly since its creation, it tells the story of a beautiful princess from the moon and her visit to earth.
Kaguya-hime (Princess Kaguya), a tiny girl no more than three inches tall, is discovered in a stalk of bamboo by a poor bamboo cutter who carries her home to his wife gently cupped in his hands. In three months the girl grows to her full height and the elderly, childless couple delight in their new-found daughter. Soon the fortunes of the bamboo cutter begin to change as he finds bamboo stalks filled with gold. Now wealthy, he provides a luxurious life for his daughter including ladies-in-waiting shown in the illustrations here in multilayered court robes.
Because Kaguya-hime is also the most lovely woman in the land, men begin to camp outside her house, some for weeks just to catch a glimpse of her. Eventually there are five wealthy and important men seeking her hand who undergo vain attempts to succeed at the impossible tasks she sets for them.
Kaguya-hime asks one suitor to bring her a charm that helps swallows give birth to their young. He hoists himself in a basket to the nests of the swallows under the eaves of his kitchen roof as the birds are ready to give birth. To his mortification the charms he scoops in his hands are only bird droppings. The princess asks another suitor to fetch a jewel from the head of a dragon. His own attendants refuse to assist him in this quest so he hires a small ship and crew. He is shown seated under a pine tree beginning to realize he has only landed in Japan not on a faraway island in the South Seas. She requests another suitor to bring her a robe made of the fur of Chinese fire-rats, magic because it cannot be burned. The illustration in this scroll shows the dismal sizzling, blazing and burning of his offering as the gorgeous robe is lit afire.
Eventually even the emperor seeks her favor, shown arriving at her house in a splendid carriage in an elaborate procession. But as it is time for her to return to the moon she refuses him, warning that her people would come for her soon. On the day of the full moon the emperor sends two thousand soldiers to the bamboo cutter's armed with bows and arrows. Finally the king of the moon men appears in a chariot on white clouds and the earthly soldiers are helpless in fear and astonishment.
In the final dramatic scene, the princess writes a letter of farewell to her parents before departing into the sky in the chariot sent for her.
This is a luxury production painted with skill and employing fine-quality mineral pigments. Cloud bands of cut gold leaf frame the scenes and the backs of the scrolls are designed with flowers and vines in silver pigment. Here the text is mounted in one volume and the illustrations in two although the text and illustrations originally alternated.
Kaguya-hime (Princess Kaguya), a tiny girl no more than three inches tall, is discovered in a stalk of bamboo by a poor bamboo cutter who carries her home to his wife gently cupped in his hands. In three months the girl grows to her full height and the elderly, childless couple delight in their new-found daughter. Soon the fortunes of the bamboo cutter begin to change as he finds bamboo stalks filled with gold. Now wealthy, he provides a luxurious life for his daughter including ladies-in-waiting shown in the illustrations here in multilayered court robes.
Because Kaguya-hime is also the most lovely woman in the land, men begin to camp outside her house, some for weeks just to catch a glimpse of her. Eventually there are five wealthy and important men seeking her hand who undergo vain attempts to succeed at the impossible tasks she sets for them.
Kaguya-hime asks one suitor to bring her a charm that helps swallows give birth to their young. He hoists himself in a basket to the nests of the swallows under the eaves of his kitchen roof as the birds are ready to give birth. To his mortification the charms he scoops in his hands are only bird droppings. The princess asks another suitor to fetch a jewel from the head of a dragon. His own attendants refuse to assist him in this quest so he hires a small ship and crew. He is shown seated under a pine tree beginning to realize he has only landed in Japan not on a faraway island in the South Seas. She requests another suitor to bring her a robe made of the fur of Chinese fire-rats, magic because it cannot be burned. The illustration in this scroll shows the dismal sizzling, blazing and burning of his offering as the gorgeous robe is lit afire.
Eventually even the emperor seeks her favor, shown arriving at her house in a splendid carriage in an elaborate procession. But as it is time for her to return to the moon she refuses him, warning that her people would come for her soon. On the day of the full moon the emperor sends two thousand soldiers to the bamboo cutter's armed with bows and arrows. Finally the king of the moon men appears in a chariot on white clouds and the earthly soldiers are helpless in fear and astonishment.
In the final dramatic scene, the princess writes a letter of farewell to her parents before departing into the sky in the chariot sent for her.
This is a luxury production painted with skill and employing fine-quality mineral pigments. Cloud bands of cut gold leaf frame the scenes and the backs of the scrolls are designed with flowers and vines in silver pigment. Here the text is mounted in one volume and the illustrations in two although the text and illustrations originally alternated.