Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)

Details

Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889)
Sanja no keshiki [View of the Three Holy Shrines]
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on silk, painted 1887, signed Seisei
Kyosai ga and with a crow seal
90 x 30cm. (excluding mount)

Provenance

Josiah Conder, no.28
Purchased at auction, V. Winkel and Magnussen, Copenhagen, 1942, and
thence by descent to the present owner

Literature

Josiah Conder, Paintings and Studies by Kawanabe Kyosai: An Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings, Studies and Sketches, by the Above Artist, with Explanatory Notes on the Principles, Materials and Technique, of Japanese Painting, (Tokyo, 1911), p.100, no.28

Winkel and Magnussen, Copenhagen, Doktor Josiah Conder's Samling Af
Japansk Kunst, Auction catalogue, 1st-3rd June 1942, Lot 130

Lot Essay

In this painting Kyosai is subtly alluding to three shrines - the deer are traditionally associated with the Kasuga Shrine at Nara, the doves symbolise the Hachiman Otokoyama Shrine, whilst the sun alludes to the Ise Shrine.

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