Benefits of the Faith, circa 1660

Details

Mujo Shoson (1631-1660)
Benefits of the Faith, circa 1660
Signed Obaku Mujo sho, sealed Reien ha, Shoson no in and Mujo
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
50 1/8 x 11½in. (127.3 x 29.2cm.)

Literature

John M. Rosenfield with Fumiko E. Cranston, Extraordinary Persons: Works by Eccentric, Nonconformist Japanese Artists of the Early Modern Era (1580-1868) in the Collection of Kimiko and John Powers, Vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums, 1999), pp. 222-23, no. 54.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Lot Essay

Mujo Shoson (Chinese: Wushang Xingzun) was a talented calligrapher and one of the Buddhist monks of the Obaku sect who came to Japan with Ingen Ryuki in 1654. The universal character of Buddhism is exemplified in this Chinese text, translated as:
"Benefits [of the faith] distributed among the myriad nations."

Translation by Fumiko E. Cranston from Extraordinary Persons, Vol. 1 (1999), p. 222.

More from An Inquiring Mind: American Collecting of Japanese and Korean Art

View All