A History of Japanese Art
Page 26
Fig. 185. Landscape, by Motonobu (N.T.)
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Pictures illustrating the Meaning of the Poems on the Twelve Months, or Jūnikagetsukai Emaki, by Tosa Mitsuoki. Mounted as two makimono. Colored on silk. 17th century.
Picture painted on fan-shape paper, by Sōtatsu. A national treasure. Sambō-in. Mounted as byobu in pair. Colored on gold ground. 17th century. One of the excellent examples in which Sōtatsus color scheme and touch of the brush can be studied, although there is no sign nor seal by him.
Illustration of Part of the Ise Monogatari Romance, by Ogata Kōrin. Mounted as kakemono. Colored on silk. 17th century. One of the representative works by Kōrin.
Flowers and Birds of All Seasons, by Sakai Hōitsu. Mounted as makimono in two pieces. Colored on silk. Late 18th century. One of the excellent works by Hōitsu which are most beautifully colored.
Spring View of Lake Seiko in China, or Seiko Shunkei, by Ike Taiga. Mounted as byobu. Slightly colored on paper. 18th century. This is one of the representative masterpieces by Taiga, the great master of the Nangwa School. (Fig. 151)
Fig. 186. Dragon and Cloud, by Okyo
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Dragon and Cloud, by Ōkyo. (Fig. 186) Kwanchi-in temple. Mounted as a pair of byobu. Ink painting on paper. 18th century. Painted when Ōkyo was forty-one years old. Two furious dragons are painted on a large scale. Gold dust is mixed skilfully with ink, which gives a highly mystic power to the fabulous creatures.
Waves, by Ōkyo. Kongō-ji temple. A national treasure. Mounted as twenty-eight kakemono. Slightly colored on paper. 18th century. The picture was originally painted on the sliding screens of the Kongō-ji temple. This is one of the grand masterpieces by Ōkyo. Six kakemono are borrowed by the Museum.
Sculpture
Kwannon. (Fig. 18) Gilt bronze. Suiko Period. The figure measures about 25 centimeters in height. The body of the statuette is flat and thin, and the ends of the robe are extended to the right and left in the form of fins, serrated like those of the famous figure of Kwannon of the Yumedono of Hōryū-ji monastery. This is an example of the most archaic style of the Suiko sculpture cast in bronze in the seventh century and is known as the style of Tori. There is an inscription on the pedestal of this figure stating that two sons of Kasano-kōri-no-kimi Tako-no-omi who died in 591 A.D., made this image in order to pray that their father s life in the other world would be happy.
Kwannon. (Fig. 187) Gilt-bronze. Suiko Period. This, being rounder and less stiff, is much more graceful than that of the Tori style. The figure measures 33 centimeters in height and weighs 5.25 kilograms. In front of the head dress is a small figure of Amida. The right arm is bent, but the hand is missing from the point where it was attached by means of a tenon and a nail which pierced through the tenon from the outside of the arm. The posture shows considerable realistic development, but the feet still retain the conventional forms, the toes being roughly represented by engraved lines.
Kwannon. (Fig. 188) Wood. The early Muromachi Period. The statue has a calm expression and delicate pose. The figure is painted all over with colored lacquer except for the face on which gold leaf is overlaid. On the robe are elaborate patterns in cut gold. It is also decorated with a beautiful necklace made of gems of five different colors. The eyes and the prominence on the forehead are inlaid with quartz. Quartz is inlaid also in the lips, to give an appearance of moistness. This was a new technique initiated in Buddhist figures of the early Muromachi Period.
Ceramic Art
Tea-jar, by Ninsei. Faience. 17th century. This is one of the most representative works by Ninsei. The jar has an excellent form and is beautifully decorated with a plum tree in blossom. Gold and other colors are applied profusely. (See page 252 and Fig. 159)
Fig. 187. Kwannon
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 188. Kwannon
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 189. Tea Bowl, by Third Dō-nyū
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Tea Bowl. (Fig. 189) Red raku ware, by the Third Dō-nyū, 1574-1652. Yedo Period. He is popularly known by the name Nonkō. The form of the bowl is magnificent. The inside and outside are reddish and covered with vitrificated glaze except for the lower part which is left white. The white part assumes a view of snow mountains under breaking daylight. Thus the bowl was named Seppō, or Snow Peak, by a tea master.
Hand-warmer. (Fig. 190) Glazed earthenware. By Nin-ami Dōhachi, 1783-1855. Design of a badger in a priest robe. Excellent workmanship in details and glaze. Height 365 m.m.
Fig. 190. Hand-warmer, by Dohachi
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Tea Pot. (Fig. 191) Earthenware. By Mokubei, 1767-1833. Late Yedo Period. The form of the pot is highly delicate and is decorated with a bird in relief. It is colored with yellow, purple, and green glaze on an unglazed ground.
Plate. (Fig. 192) Iro-nabeshima porcelain. Early Yedo Period. The inside is most beautifully decorated with a cherry tree in full bloom in red, green, and yellow colors. Across the rim 203 mm. Height 58 mm.
Jar. (Fig. 193) Satsuma ware of Nawashiro kiln. Yedo Period. The pot is intended mainly for decorative purposes and is painted with figures in brown, blue, green, and red colors on a fine crackled ground. The mouth and shoulder are covered with gold plate. Dated 1765. Height 460 mm.
Fig. 191. Tea Pot, by Mokubei
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
San-tsai-pot. (Fig. 194) Glazed earthenware. T'ang Dynasty. This is a fine example of T'ang pottery decorated with three different colored glazes—white, green, and yellowish brown. The beautiful form of its body and the powerful dragon-shape handles are also typical of the T'ang wares. Height 465 mm. This is one of a splendid large collection of Chinese pottery and porcelain given to the Museum by Mr. Tamisuke Yokokawa.
Lacquer Ware
Tray for Censer. (Fig. 195) Red laminated lacquer, called tsuishu. Ming Dynasty (1368-1643). Peony blossoms are carved in relief, diameter 19.1 cm. and height 2 cm.
Chest. (Fig. 196) Lacquer. Heian Period. This is one of the fine examples of mother-of-pearl inlay on black lacquered ground. The design is composed of a phoenix transformed into beautiful round patterns, showing an elegant contrast of black and white.
Chest of Drawers. (Fig. 197) Gold lacquer. Momoyama Period. The chest is intended for incense. The outside is decorated beautifully with a design of autumnal grass in gold lacquer on a black lacquered ground in the style of Kōdai-ji maki-e. Width 250 mm.; depth 192 mm.
Fig. 192. Iro-nabeshima
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 193. Satsuma
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Hand Box, by Kō-ami Nagashige. (Fig. 164) Gold lacquer. 17th century. This is a fine example of the perfect workmanship in gold lacquer that developed in the early Yedo Period. It belonged formerly to the famous cabinet called Hatsune-no-tana which is owned by Marquis Tokugawa in Owari.
Metal Work
Mirror. (Fig. 198) Bronze. Fujiwara Period. The mirror measures about 11 centimeters in diameter. Our illustration shows the back with its delicate floral design of the Fujiwara Period (894-1185). This kind of mirror is found mostly in the Kyōzuka, or Scripture-mound, and the museum has a large collection. The making of Scripture-mounds was a Buddhist custom practised as a meritorious work of faith from the tenth century down to the fourteenth century. The Hokkekyō, the most important Buddhist scripture, was put into a cylindrical case made of bronze, terra-cotta, or sometimes of stone, and was often buried with daggers, mirrors, or toilet things on some famous mountain or in some other noted place, with a prayer to Buddha. This is one of the numerous examples collected in the museum from many localities. When we compare them with Han or T'ang mirrors and copies of them made in Japan, Fujiwara mirrors are much smaller and very handy. The designs on their backs are composed mostly of birds and butterflies associated with grass and flowers. Although they are much
simpler than the T'ang mirrors, they show that artistic spirit and native ability had reached a very high degree of elegance, as will be seen in our illustration.
Mirror. (Fig. 199) Bronze. Late 16th century. With a design of a paulownia and bamboo on the back. Dated 1588. Diameter 221 mm.
Fig. 194. San-tsai-pot
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig.195. Tray for Censer
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 196. Chest
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 197. Chest of Drawers
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
2. THE TŌSHŌ-GŪ SHRINE, UENO PARK
This shrine stands in Ueno Park. It was founded by the priest Tenkai in the Kwan-ei Era (1624-1643) to enshrine Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, but the present buildings were rebuilt in 1651. The principal parts are the main shrine, hall for prayers, stone-floored chamber, open-work fence, and middle gate, and they are all enrolled as national treasures. The structure of this shrine is called gon-gen-zukuri. One of the conspicuous features of this style is that the main shrine is connected by the ai-no-ma (stone-floored chamber) to the hall for prayer. Inside and outside, black and red lacquer is used everywhere. There are decorative sculpture and painting in many parts of the buildings, gold and other bright colors being used profusely with a gorgeous effect. Such was characteristic of the early Yedo Period. The roofs are covered with copper plates.
3. THE FIVE-STORIED STUPA, UENO PARK
The stupa stands in front of the Tōshō-gū Shrine. It was founded by Doi Toshikatsu in 1639 and dedicated to the Tōshōgū Shrine. The exterior is red, and the animal carvings in the frog-leg supports between the bracket systems are beautifully colored. The whole structure is restful, well balanced, and splendid, showing the best characteristics of the stupas built in the early Yedo Period. (Fig. 200)
4. THE SENSŌ-JI MONASTERY, ASAKUSA PARK
This temple is situated in Asakusa Park, the most popular amusement quarter in Tokyo. It is dedicated to a tiny gold statuette of Kwannon. The present main hall was built in 1649 at the command of the Shogun Iemitsu. It is the largest piece of Buddhist architecture in Tokyo, magnificent in construction and vigorous in execution of details. The exterior is red, but the interior is gorgeous with colorful decoration.
A five-storied stupa stands on the right as one enters the temple gate called Niō-mon. This also was built in 1649 at the order of Iemitsu. It is a stupa of three spans, measuring 32.50 meters in height, and has a red exterior. It is regarded as a good example of the magnificent architecture of the early Yedo Period.
Fig. 198. Bronze Mirror
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 199. Bronze Mirror
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 200. Five-storied Stupa (N.T. )
Ueno Park, Tokyo
5. ZŌJŌ-JI MONASTERY, SHIBA PARK
The Zōjō-ji is situated in Shiba Park and is one of the greatest Buddhist monasteries in Tokyo. It was founded by the Tokugawa Shogunate at the end of the seventeenth century as a family temple of the Tokugawas. The remains of six Tokugawa Shoguns are entombed here and three separate shrines are erected for them. They are all gorgeous architecture of the Yelo Period. But the finest of them is the one dedicated to the soul of the second Shogun, Hidetada, in 1632. It is called Daitoku-in Mausoleum. Its general arrangement consists of an outer gateway a gate bearing a tablet inscribed with the Emperor's handwriting, a fountain-pavilion, a belfry, an inner gateway, portico, oratory, a stone-floored chamber and a main hall. (Fig. 201) The architectural style is a combination of Shinto and Buddhist types, but it is recognized as a representative example of the mausoleum architecture developed in the early Yedo Period. The exterior pillars and doors are lacquered black and have glossy luster, but the complicated brackets and friezes are decorated with gold and other rich colors. The interior is decorated more sumptuously with bright colors, gold being used everywhere. His tomb is exceptionally elaborate. It is covered with a fine octagonal build-ing. Inside the building is enshrined a hō-tō or stupa which contains the remains. Decorated with gold lacquer design and encrusted with jewels, it is unparalleled in beauty and artistic elaboration.
6. THE YŪSHŪ-KWAN MUSEUM, KUDAN
The museum is situated in the precincts of the Yasukuni Shrine at Kudan. It was founded in 1881, and contains Japanese arms and armor of every period. The collection amounts to about ten thousand exhibits, arranged in chronological order. The most noteworthy is a loan collection of sword blades which are owned by Shinto shrines of many districts and enlisted as national treasures.
Fig. 201. Mausoleum of Second Shogun (N.T.)
Shiba Park, Tokyo
CHAPTER 2
KAMAKURA
1. ENGAKU-JI MONASTERY, KAMAKURA
This monastery was founded by Hōjō Tokimune in 1282. The first abbot was Bukkō Zenshi, a learned Chinese priest, who was invited here by the founder. The Engaku-ji has been one of the greatest monasteries of the Zen sect in Kamakura.
Fig. 202. Shari-den (N.T.)
Engaku-ji, Kamakura
The Shari-den was built in 1282. Here, the relic of the Buddha's tooth, brought over from China, is enshrined. (Fig. 202) The hall is five spans square, of double-story construction. It has a heavily thatched irimoya roof, the eaves of which are supported by a double row of ribs spreading out like the sticks of a fan. Its complicated bracket system on the upper story, the rafters, in radiating formation, the admirably constructed ceiling, the dais (shumi-dan) decorated with a repition of peculiarly shaped mouldings, and the peculiar form of railing, doors, and curve-topped windows, are the chief features of this building, which are characteristic of Zen monasteries of the kara-yo style. This is the only building that remains in Kamakura from the Kamakura Period.
2. DAIBUTSU, KAMAKURA
This is a colossial bronze statue of Amida cast in the thirteenth century. (Fig. 203) According to the records, the monk Jōkō started to gather subscriptions for it in the year 1238, and the casting was begun in 1252 by the master founder Tanji Hisa-tomo. The original designer of the model is, however, not known to us.
The Buddha is seated on a lotus throne, without an aureole, resting upon a stone platform. The figure measures about 11 meters in height, and weighs 93,750 kilograms; the length of face measuring 2.3 meters, and the width from ear to ear, 4.5 meters. When completed, the statue was inclosed in a building with a massive roof supported by 63 immense wooden columns. However, this structure was twice destroyed by two tidal waves, the first in 1369 and the second in 1494. Since then, the house has never been restored and the image stands weather beaten, roofed only by the sky. It was not cast in a single shell, but made up gradually by means of sheets of bronze cast separately and soldered together. The joints are plainly visible today.
The statue may not be as magnificent as the best of Tempyō sculpture of the eight century, but it is surely a great masterpiece, which reflects the realistic tendency of the time, and it has an air of peace and profound intimacy symbolizing the infinite love of the Amida Buddha. The patina is beautiful greenish black.
While the great Buddha at Nara was built by Imperial order heavily taxing the national exchequer, the one at Kamakura was planned by an obscure Buddhist monk supported by the people at large, who thus evinced their faith and sympathy. This reflects the spirit of the age, very different from the circumstances under which the colossal Buddha of Nara was erected in the eighth century.
Mr. Pier, an art-critic of the West, who visited Kamakura to see this colossal figure of Amida, admired it in the following words: "More than any other artistic treasure of its kind in Japan, the statue of Amida needs to be seen, and seen often, to be fully appreciated. No Western pen can do justice to the consummate beauty of its pose and expression; for it is no exaggeration to say that this matchless figure combines within itself all the essential elements of Oriental beauty, as inspired by the doctrines of es
oteric Buddhism."