Author(s):
anonymous
date of production: between 1600 and 1650
type of object(s): graphic arts, manuscripts, printed matter, binding, japan
name(s): manuscript
materials and techniques: ink, paper
place(s) of execution/production: japan
dimensions - artwork:
height: 30cm
width: 22. 5cm
description:
illuminated manuscript, 3 volumes. 12 paintings including 2 on double pages. / "illuminated manuscripts" - japanese imaginative literature - novels (monogatari) and tales (otogi-zōshi) - gave birth to a powerful art of painted narration. The principle is to join the image to a text which can be read, either by a single reader, or by a reciter who says it, using voice, for an audience – sometimes reduced to a single person – while at the same time showing the images. It is in this very general trend that the great court art of the illuminated scroll (emakimono) is located. It is also to him which is linked the simpler and more popular art of the illustrators, whose work remained anonymous, and who worked for a less cultured public, belonging to the middle and working classes of the population. From the muromachi period (1338-1573), especially at the end of the period, the illustrated stories developed in a format that was relatively small, or on the contrary, very large, suitable for being no longer rolled but folded and then bound in book. Thus were born the “illustrated books of nara (nara-e-hon) of which we see here an example of particularly remarkable quality. Iconographic description:
characters, men, women, arranged in the architectural space: this novel would have been written by a nobleman from the muromachi period towards the end of the 16th century, with a first title "amayadori" (sheltered from the downpour). It was first printed in 1661 under the title "shigure no en". The title of shigure monogatari appears in the 1721 edition. Our manuscript would thus be located between these two dates. The subject is that of an impossible love resulting from an encounter in a downpour at the kiyomizu temple in kyoto. Historical commentary:
on the paper sheet: "appreciation of mr gardner (british museum) march 16, 1963: late 17th century? early 18th century". Mode of acquisition: legacy
name of donor, testator, seller: cernuschi, henri
date of acquisition: 1896
institution: cernuschi museum, museum of asian arts of the city of paris
inventory number: m. C. 4740. Date: between 1600 and 1650.
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