EDO PERIOD (LATE 17TH CENTURY)

Details

Two Nara Ehon Depicting the Story Shigure [An Autumn Shower]
Edo Period (Late 17th Century)
Bound in fukurotoji-bon style; ink, some on gold-decorated paper, and ink, colour and gold pigment on paper illustrations; the first with three blank pages, one double- and five single-page illustrations and 42 pages of calligraphy; the second with three blank pages, seven single-page illustrations and 62 pages of calligraphy; 30 x 22.2 cm.; the third volume missing; gold endpapers; dark blue covers decorated in gold with clouds and landscape scenes; original ink on paper title slips; in wood storage box, some slight old soiling, wormage and wear, with collector's seal Getsumeiso (see below) (2)

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Shigure, also known as Amayadori (Taking Shelter from the Rain)1 tells the story of a beautiful princess who takes shelter from a sudden shower in the Kiyomizu Temple. Here she encounters a handsome young nobleman and falls in love. After an overnight stay with the princess, he returns to court without knowing the whereabouts of his lover's family. The young man's father disapproves since he wishes the young nobleman to marry the daughter of a high-ranking imperial councillor. Separated from her lover the young lady has to endure a lonely life in the countryside. The reigning Emperor hears of her beauty and asks to be his consort. Despite their apparent happiness, the Empress cannot help thinking of the young man. In turn her lover retires from public life, heartbroken because they can no longer meet.
1 For another example of the same story, but with the title Amayadori see Christie's, New York, 7 October 1988, Lot 26, a 17th-century Nara ehon in three volumes.
The collector's seal is that of Sorimachi Shigeo (1901-1991), the greatest bibliophile of 20th- century Japan.

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