Yashima Gakutei (1786-1868) | The Ascent to Heaven from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori ama-agari) | Edo period, 19th century
Lot Closed
July 18, 01:28 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Yashima Gakutei (1786-1868)
The Ascent to Heaven from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori ama-agari)
Edo period, 19th century
woodblock print tetraptych, surimono, embellished with embossing and metallic pigments, each sheet signed Gakutei and sealed Sadaoka, privately issued, circa 1820-22
Surimono, shikishiban: each sheet approx.. 21.3 x 19.2 cm., 8⅜ x 7½ in.
A rare and luxuriously printed surimono composed as a tetraptych. Among a density of embossed cloud scrolls, Kaguya-hime returns to the moon onboard a royal palanquin flanked by heavenly female attendants bearing banners. Their robes are ornately decorated with blind-printing and gold and silver pigment.
The scene derives from one of the most well-known Japanese fairy tales, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori monogatari), where an elderly bamboo cutter stumbles upon a little girl hidden within the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. After raising the child as one of his own, the young girl finally reveals herself to be a princess from the moon, to which she returns in splendid procession.
For a similar impression of the same tetraptych in the collection of the British Museum, museum number 1941,0208,0.10.1-4, go to:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1941-0208-0-10-1-4
