Lot Essay
Four tales, two from the 10th century and two from the medieval period, are assembled in a set of ten books of the type known as Nara-ehon. They are illustrated with exquisite, delicately rendered miniature paintings of high quality embellished with gold and silver pigments and cut gold leaf.
The Tales of Ise is a mid-10th century collection of brief lyrical episodes built around poems composed by anonymous court poets. The collection gives the impression of being the quasi-biography of the famous 9th-century poet Ariwara no Narihira. The tale exerted a tremendous influence on later Japanese literature. Its familiar romantic scenes, interpreted here with poetic sensitivity, were illustrated by generations of painters from at least the 13th century.
The Tale of Sagoromo, a fictional work written between 1069 and 1072, is attributed to Senji (Rokujo Saiin Baishi Naishinno no Senji), who became lady-in-waiting to Princess Baishi when, in 1046, the seven-year-old Baishi became Kamo Shrine Priestess. Senji seems to have served the princess for thirty years or so. The tale, her major oeuvre, is the story of Sagoromo, a handsome but irresolute aristocrat, whose unrequited love for his cousin and adopted sister, Genji no Miya (modeled on Senji's mistress), causes him to vacillate between periods of melancholy, when he yearns to enter the priesthood, and passionate affairs with a succession of charming ladies. Sagoromo is the ideal hero and the novel ends with his being made emperer by oracular decree ascribed to the goddess Amaterasu. Modeled on Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji (and in particular on the final Uji chapters), the tale has an intricate plot, abundant poetry and elaborate poetic ÿllusions. Unlike the Tale of Genji, there is a certain worldly realism here: the hero's love affairs result in numerous pregnancies and many of the illustrations feature babies. At one point the restless Sagoromo visits various temples. An interesting detail in this manuscript is the temple scene in which pilgrims are dressed not in Heian costume but in contemporary 17th century attire. There are two 17th century manuscript versions of this tale in booklet form in the Spencer collection of the New York Public Library. Their style and choice of scenes for illustration is very similar to the present example.
The two other stories included in this set are medieval short tales called otogi-zoshi (companion tales) from a group of twenty-three similar stories collected and printed around 1700 by the Osaka publisher Shibukawa Seiemon. The original body of medieval short tales from which he drew his selection (all known generically as otogi-zoshi) numbered at least five hundred and range in date from the 13th to the 17th centuries. The have in common anonymous authorship, oral transmission, and brevity - most were intended to be read aloud at one sitting. Frequently didactic (they typically seek to convey a moral or religious lesson), they focus on heroes and heroines who are no longer exclusively aristocratic, and may include characters from the lower classes, clergy, animals, plants, monsters and creatures of the imagination.
The Bowl Girl begins by introducing the parents of the female protagonist. They long to have a child and in response to their prayers they are blessed with a daughter, as shown in the first illustration. The mother dies prematurely, however, and just before she breathes her last she places a box on her daughter's head and covers it with a bowl, which becomes firmly attached to the poor girl's head. (Hachi means 'bowl' and kazuki is a nominal of the verb kazuku, 'to put something on one's head'). According to the story, the bowl goes right down to her shoulders, covering her face. In the second scene the father is seen grieving because he can not remove the bowl from his daughter's head. He is soon happily remarried, and the girl is inevitably treated badly by her stepmother. We see her next crying at her mother's tomb. She then tries to drown herself in a river but the bowl brings her to the surface and she is rescued by a fisherman, as shown in the accompanying painting. She comes to a village where she attracts the eye of a middle-captain, who orders his men to try to remove the bowl from her head. They fail, but she becomes the fire-tender of the bath in his house. The members of the household are shown making fun of her (demands for the bath are constant). The family's fourth son, Saisho, notices the girl and falls in love with her despite her affliction. (He thinks she has beautiful hands and feet). His love for her causes the bowl to fall off, revealing not only her beauty but the treasures it contains, including gold and silver utensils and a set of ceremonial robes for a court lady. There follows a contest in which Hachikazuki proves herself superior to the wives of the three other sons. Four illustrations are devoted to this competition in music, poetry and gift-giving. The girl marries Saisho, who is made the father's heir, and they live happily thereafter. The final illustration shows the poignant reunion of the girl and her father, who has taken religious vows.
Urashima Taro is the name of a young man who catches a turtle while fishing and gently restores it to the sea. The turtle changes into a beautiful young woman, the daughter of the Dragon King, and invites him to visit the sea-god's palace. They spend three years together in the luxury of the palace beneath the sea, shown in the third illustration, a double-page spread. Finally he returns to his village, but finds himself a stranger. Bewildered, he sits down and opens the box she has given him but has forbidden him to open. A vapor emerges from the box and instantly his hair turns white, his skin wrinkles, and he dies of old age. It has been three hundred years since he left home. The final scene shows the shrine which is his reputed burial place. The origins of this folktale have been traced to the 8th century Nihon shoki and the Man'yoshu.
The Tales of Ise is a mid-10th century collection of brief lyrical episodes built around poems composed by anonymous court poets. The collection gives the impression of being the quasi-biography of the famous 9th-century poet Ariwara no Narihira. The tale exerted a tremendous influence on later Japanese literature. Its familiar romantic scenes, interpreted here with poetic sensitivity, were illustrated by generations of painters from at least the 13th century.
The Tale of Sagoromo, a fictional work written between 1069 and 1072, is attributed to Senji (Rokujo Saiin Baishi Naishinno no Senji), who became lady-in-waiting to Princess Baishi when, in 1046, the seven-year-old Baishi became Kamo Shrine Priestess. Senji seems to have served the princess for thirty years or so. The tale, her major oeuvre, is the story of Sagoromo, a handsome but irresolute aristocrat, whose unrequited love for his cousin and adopted sister, Genji no Miya (modeled on Senji's mistress), causes him to vacillate between periods of melancholy, when he yearns to enter the priesthood, and passionate affairs with a succession of charming ladies. Sagoromo is the ideal hero and the novel ends with his being made emperer by oracular decree ascribed to the goddess Amaterasu. Modeled on Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji (and in particular on the final Uji chapters), the tale has an intricate plot, abundant poetry and elaborate poetic ÿllusions. Unlike the Tale of Genji, there is a certain worldly realism here: the hero's love affairs result in numerous pregnancies and many of the illustrations feature babies. At one point the restless Sagoromo visits various temples. An interesting detail in this manuscript is the temple scene in which pilgrims are dressed not in Heian costume but in contemporary 17th century attire. There are two 17th century manuscript versions of this tale in booklet form in the Spencer collection of the New York Public Library. Their style and choice of scenes for illustration is very similar to the present example.
The two other stories included in this set are medieval short tales called otogi-zoshi (companion tales) from a group of twenty-three similar stories collected and printed around 1700 by the Osaka publisher Shibukawa Seiemon. The original body of medieval short tales from which he drew his selection (all known generically as otogi-zoshi) numbered at least five hundred and range in date from the 13th to the 17th centuries. The have in common anonymous authorship, oral transmission, and brevity - most were intended to be read aloud at one sitting. Frequently didactic (they typically seek to convey a moral or religious lesson), they focus on heroes and heroines who are no longer exclusively aristocratic, and may include characters from the lower classes, clergy, animals, plants, monsters and creatures of the imagination.
The Bowl Girl begins by introducing the parents of the female protagonist. They long to have a child and in response to their prayers they are blessed with a daughter, as shown in the first illustration. The mother dies prematurely, however, and just before she breathes her last she places a box on her daughter's head and covers it with a bowl, which becomes firmly attached to the poor girl's head. (Hachi means 'bowl' and kazuki is a nominal of the verb kazuku, 'to put something on one's head'). According to the story, the bowl goes right down to her shoulders, covering her face. In the second scene the father is seen grieving because he can not remove the bowl from his daughter's head. He is soon happily remarried, and the girl is inevitably treated badly by her stepmother. We see her next crying at her mother's tomb. She then tries to drown herself in a river but the bowl brings her to the surface and she is rescued by a fisherman, as shown in the accompanying painting. She comes to a village where she attracts the eye of a middle-captain, who orders his men to try to remove the bowl from her head. They fail, but she becomes the fire-tender of the bath in his house. The members of the household are shown making fun of her (demands for the bath are constant). The family's fourth son, Saisho, notices the girl and falls in love with her despite her affliction. (He thinks she has beautiful hands and feet). His love for her causes the bowl to fall off, revealing not only her beauty but the treasures it contains, including gold and silver utensils and a set of ceremonial robes for a court lady. There follows a contest in which Hachikazuki proves herself superior to the wives of the three other sons. Four illustrations are devoted to this competition in music, poetry and gift-giving. The girl marries Saisho, who is made the father's heir, and they live happily thereafter. The final illustration shows the poignant reunion of the girl and her father, who has taken religious vows.
Urashima Taro is the name of a young man who catches a turtle while fishing and gently restores it to the sea. The turtle changes into a beautiful young woman, the daughter of the Dragon King, and invites him to visit the sea-god's palace. They spend three years together in the luxury of the palace beneath the sea, shown in the third illustration, a double-page spread. Finally he returns to his village, but finds himself a stranger. Bewildered, he sits down and opens the box she has given him but has forbidden him to open. A vapor emerges from the box and instantly his hair turns white, his skin wrinkles, and he dies of old age. It has been three hundred years since he left home. The final scene shows the shrine which is his reputed burial place. The origins of this folktale have been traced to the 8th century Nihon shoki and the Man'yoshu.