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拍品專文
The cover features lotus in gold against a deep purple ground. On the frontispiece, the five lotus in a pond illustrate the development of five periods of the Buddha's teaching.
The handscroll is an exact replica of Chapter 4 of the Lotus Sutra, "Belief and Understanding," of the famous set of Heian-period sutras dedicated by the Heike, or Taira, family. The set of thirty-three elaborate scrolls, known as the Heike Nogyo, was dedicated to Itsukushima Shrine in 1164 by Taira no Kiyomori and is now registered as a National Treasure. The text section and reverse of the scroll are lavishly painted and embellished with gold and silver leaf. (See also lot 511).
The scroll is not signed, but can only be the work of Tanaka Shinbi, an acclaimed artisan and restorer trained in the traditional mode of Japanese painting. Shinbi was so skilled he was asked to copy nearly every major narrative handscroll. In 1920, the head priest of Itsukushima Shrine arranged for him to make a complete copy of the Heike Nogyo. The effort, which took nearly six years to finish, was funded through the efforts of the collector Masuda Takashi (1848-1938), director of the Mitsui conglomerate. At least one extra set was made.
For Shinbi and Masuda, see Christine Guth, Art, Tea, and Industry: Masuda Takashi and the Mitsui Circle (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993); and Meiho Kankokai, comp. Tanaka Shinbi: Heian-cho bi no sosei ni sasageta hyakunen so seijun (Tanaka Shinbi: A hundred-year life devoted to the revival of Heian-period art) (Tokyo: Tendensha, 1985). Tanaka Shinbi described his working methods in "Techniques of the Heike Nogyo," Bijutsu kenkyu 47 (November 1935): 514-17.
The handscroll is an exact replica of Chapter 4 of the Lotus Sutra, "Belief and Understanding," of the famous set of Heian-period sutras dedicated by the Heike, or Taira, family. The set of thirty-three elaborate scrolls, known as the Heike Nogyo, was dedicated to Itsukushima Shrine in 1164 by Taira no Kiyomori and is now registered as a National Treasure. The text section and reverse of the scroll are lavishly painted and embellished with gold and silver leaf. (See also lot 511).
The scroll is not signed, but can only be the work of Tanaka Shinbi, an acclaimed artisan and restorer trained in the traditional mode of Japanese painting. Shinbi was so skilled he was asked to copy nearly every major narrative handscroll. In 1920, the head priest of Itsukushima Shrine arranged for him to make a complete copy of the Heike Nogyo. The effort, which took nearly six years to finish, was funded through the efforts of the collector Masuda Takashi (1848-1938), director of the Mitsui conglomerate. At least one extra set was made.
For Shinbi and Masuda, see Christine Guth, Art, Tea, and Industry: Masuda Takashi and the Mitsui Circle (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993); and Meiho Kankokai, comp. Tanaka Shinbi: Heian-cho bi no sosei ni sasageta hyakunen so seijun (Tanaka Shinbi: A hundred-year life devoted to the revival of Heian-period art) (Tokyo: Tendensha, 1985). Tanaka Shinbi described his working methods in "Techniques of the Heike Nogyo," Bijutsu kenkyu 47 (November 1935): 514-17.