Artist Unknown 作者不詳 Daruma, Kanzan and Jittoku
Muromachi (1333-1573) or Momoyama (1572-1615) period, late 16th/early 17th centurySet of three kakejiku (hanging scrolls), ink on paper in silk mounts, depicting respectively Daruma (centre), Jittoku (right), and Kanzan (left), each in three-quarter profile, Daruma staring to his left, Jittoku and Kanzan with their usual attributes of broom and scroll; ivory jiku (roller ends)Each with seal Shikibu 式部 Each overall: 182.5cm x 49.7cm (71 5/8in x 19 5/8in); Image: 83.6cm x 33.4cm (32 7/8in x 13 1/8in) (6).
注脚
Inner wood tomobako storage box with label Daiyonban Kanzan Daruma Jittoku sanpukutsui Kei Shoki hitsu 第四番寒山達磨拾得三幅対啓書記筆 (No. 4: Hanging-scroll triptych of Daruma, Kanzan and Jittoku by Kei Shoki) and with a receipt bearing the seal Kanazawa Inarigumi shōsha 金澤稲荷組商社 (Inarigumi Trading Company of Kanazawa); the outer box similarly labelledThe two reclusive Chinese eccentrics, the poet Kanzan ('Cold Mountain') and the cook's assistant Jittoku ('Foundling') are first referred to as a pair in a document of 1004 (see Levine and Lippitt 2007, cat. no. 104) . They subsequently established themselves as essential figures in the Zen Buddhist pantheon: giggling and talking unintelligible nonsense but also regarded as manifestations of the bodhisattvas Monju and Fugen, two of the most important of all Buddhist deities. Here they flank an icon of Daruma, the Indian founder of Zen who travelled to China in the fifth century.Despite the box attribution to Kei Shoki (Shōkei, active circa 1478–1506) and the presence of three seals associated with Shikibu Terutada, an early/mid-sixteenth century painter in the Kano style who is sometimes confused with Kei Shoki, the lack of firm stylistic parallels among the 20 or so scrolls associated with Shikibu makes it safer to treat this painting as an anonymous work dating probably from the latter part of the sixteenth century.Please note that the jiku (roller ends) are made of ivory, the import of which is banned in the USA and China; additionally, from 1 January 2021 this lot will require a CITES permit for export to all other destinations outside of the UK. Should you wish, the Japanese Department can arrange for the jiku to be professionally removed at an additional cost.