Lot Essay
This screen is an outstanding example of Japanese genre painting by an artist skilled in the techniques of traditional yamato-e figure style. The race unfolds from right to left in a manner evoking a narrative handscroll.
Horse-racing was an annual event at the Japanese court as early as the 8th century. It was also initiated as an annual event within the precincts of the Kamigamo (Upper Kamo) Shrine in northern Kyoto in A.D.1093 in association with prayers for peace and for a bountiful harvest of the five grains. The festival at Kamo Shrine is held each year on the day of Boy's Festival, the fifth day of the fifth month. Horses symbolized the attributes of manliness, courage, and strength, which may account for the combination of Kamo horse-racing and Boy's Day festival.
A race is depicted the length of this unusually long screen. In the background are the wooded grounds of the shrine and a winding river. The main precinct of the shrine is visible at the top of the last two panels. Pairs of contestants from two teams (one wearing brown, the other red) race down the straight course which is set between two red torii (sacred gates) of the shrine. Here only the starting gate is visible at the right. We are shown the progression of the race in all its stages. Just inside the gate are riderless horses - one has yet to be saddled. At the start of the track a pair of mounted riders look at one another in anticipation of the starting signal; at the center of the track a pair race neck and neck; at the level of the viewing stand the rider in brown has taken the lead and turns in the saddle to flash a victory sign to the spectators.The riders exit at the end of the track, their excited horses bucking out of control. The winners then parade around the back of the track to the judges' stand (at the center top of the screen) where they are awarded bolts of white silk.
The Kamo race theme was a popular one in the early Edo period and was frequently depicted on screens by virtue of its significance as a religious ceremony. In this example, however, the shrine itself is reduced in importance and the spectacle of the race takes over as the primary focus of the painting. The track is lined with spectators from every walk of life, rich and poor, old and young, all drawn with a realistic and lively touch that characterizes the best of Japanese genre painting. There are armed guards in full suits of armor, large numbers of white-robed shrine attendants, grooms, monks, old men, beautiful young women, and children. Below the judges' booth, a shrine attendant chases two unruly children with a stick. In the elevated VIP viewing stand at the end of the track, men and women are segregated, and the women are shielded from the public gaze by bamboo blinds. Caught up in their own gossip and conversation, they turn their backs on the action. There is a fascinating array of painted fans and gorgeous finery, rich material for a costume historian. Gold leaf used for the ground and bands of clouds adds a dazzling ornamental touch to the lavish design.
Horse-racing was an annual event at the Japanese court as early as the 8th century. It was also initiated as an annual event within the precincts of the Kamigamo (Upper Kamo) Shrine in northern Kyoto in A.D.1093 in association with prayers for peace and for a bountiful harvest of the five grains. The festival at Kamo Shrine is held each year on the day of Boy's Festival, the fifth day of the fifth month. Horses symbolized the attributes of manliness, courage, and strength, which may account for the combination of Kamo horse-racing and Boy's Day festival.
A race is depicted the length of this unusually long screen. In the background are the wooded grounds of the shrine and a winding river. The main precinct of the shrine is visible at the top of the last two panels. Pairs of contestants from two teams (one wearing brown, the other red) race down the straight course which is set between two red torii (sacred gates) of the shrine. Here only the starting gate is visible at the right. We are shown the progression of the race in all its stages. Just inside the gate are riderless horses - one has yet to be saddled. At the start of the track a pair of mounted riders look at one another in anticipation of the starting signal; at the center of the track a pair race neck and neck; at the level of the viewing stand the rider in brown has taken the lead and turns in the saddle to flash a victory sign to the spectators.The riders exit at the end of the track, their excited horses bucking out of control. The winners then parade around the back of the track to the judges' stand (at the center top of the screen) where they are awarded bolts of white silk.
The Kamo race theme was a popular one in the early Edo period and was frequently depicted on screens by virtue of its significance as a religious ceremony. In this example, however, the shrine itself is reduced in importance and the spectacle of the race takes over as the primary focus of the painting. The track is lined with spectators from every walk of life, rich and poor, old and young, all drawn with a realistic and lively touch that characterizes the best of Japanese genre painting. There are armed guards in full suits of armor, large numbers of white-robed shrine attendants, grooms, monks, old men, beautiful young women, and children. Below the judges' booth, a shrine attendant chases two unruly children with a stick. In the elevated VIP viewing stand at the end of the track, men and women are segregated, and the women are shielded from the public gaze by bamboo blinds. Caught up in their own gossip and conversation, they turn their backs on the action. There is a fascinating array of painted fans and gorgeous finery, rich material for a costume historian. Gold leaf used for the ground and bands of clouds adds a dazzling ornamental touch to the lavish design.