Seal of Kano Masanobu 狩野正信 (1434-1530) Tackling A Go Opponent
Muromachi Period (1333-1573), early/mid-16th centuryKakejiku (hanging scroll), ink on paper in silk mounts, depicting two players disputing a game of Go, a third figure restraining one of the players; ivory jiku (roller ends)Red pot seal at lower left Masanobu 正信 Overall: 116.5cm x 51.5cm (45 7/8in x 20?in); Image: 33.2cm x 35.6cm (13 1/8in x 14in) (4).
注脚
ProvenanceAsano Family, Aki Province 安芸国浅野家 (see below)Inner wood tomobako storage box inscribed outside Ho goteki zu Koyūsei hitsu 捕碁敵図 古祐勢筆 (Painting of a man grappling with a Go opponent, brushed by Koyūsei), inscribed inside Eishin shi 榮信誌 (Noted by Eishin) with seal Isen Hōgen 伊川法眼 (see below); printed cotton wrapper with repeat floral design, with paper label Ho goteki no zu Yūsei Masanobu hitsu 捕碁敵圖 祐勢正信筆 (Painting of a man grappling with a Go opponent, brushed by Yūsei Masanobu); outer wood tomobako storage box inscribed outside Kakemono Yūsei hitsu ippuku 掛物祐勢筆一幅 (One hanging scroll brushed by Yūsei), the inside with paper label Aki no kuni Asano-ke denrai 安芸國淺野家傳來 (handed down in the Asano family of Aki Province)Widely regarded as the founder of the Kano academy, the long-lived Masanobu (also known as Yūsei) played a leading role in establishing and developing the Chinese-inspired painting style that would dominate the official art world during succeeding centuries, and securing the patronage of the Ashikaga dynasty of shoguns. The red pot seal seen here is recorded in Honchō gain (Painter's Seals of the Realm), a woodblock-printed compilation published in 1693. The relevant image is accessible at http://lab.inf.shizuoka.ac.jp/takamatsu/honchogain-20.htm (folio 20, left-hand page, lower right). Scenes of Chinese scholars playing the game of go appear frequently within larger Kano paintings of this period (for an example compare The Four Accomplishments, a pair of six-panel folding screens by Kano Motonobu in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) but it is unusual to find the subject dominating a single hanging scroll.In the early seventeenth century, the main branch of the Kano academy moved from Kyoto to the new capital at Edo (present-day Tokyo) and worked mainly in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. Later members of the academy frequently authenticated earlier paintings: Kano Eishin or Naganobu (also known as Isen or Isen'in, 1775-1828), whose signature appears on the inner box of this lot, succeeded his father Yōsen'in as seventh-generation head of the Kobikichō branch of the Kano in Edo and was awarded the senior rank of hōgen in 1802.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.