Oriental Works of Art

Japanese Woodblock Print - Kagekado, Moon of Yamaki Mansion, by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka

Price: £350

The subject of this auction is one of the most famous images from the one hundred oban size woodblock prints which comprised the series ‘One Hundred Aspects of the Moon’ by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, published from 1885 to 1892. It survives in excellent condition and has been sympathetically framed to create a collector’s item of true beauty and interest.

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Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1839-1892) was one of the last masters of ‘ukiyo-e’ (literally ‘images of the floating world’) a tradition of paintings and prints which flourished in Japan from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Known at first for his ‘Bloody Prints’ which concentrated on violence and the depiction of death, Yoshitoshi moved on to gentler themes later in his life, culminating in the series of one hundred prints entitled ‘One Hundred Aspects of the Moon’ which was published by Akiyama Buemon between 1885 and 1892, the final images appearing in the year of the artist’s death. The prints featured subjects from traditional Japanese and Chinese history and legend with the moon appearing in all but a few, giving a linking motif for the series as a whole. They were released singly or in groups every few months and proved to be enormously popular, with queues forming of collectors eager to purchase the new releases as soon as they became available.

This print was entitled ‘Kagekado, Moon of Yamaki Mansion’ and was issued in March 1886, therefore one of the earliest in the series. The scene depicted comes from the ‘Heike monogatari’ or ‘The Tale of the Heike’ an account complied before 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Yoshitoshi’s audience would, no doubt, have been familiar with this. At the beginning of the conflict the head of the Minamoto clan sent his retainer, Kagekado, to kill the leader of the Taira clan, Kanetaka. We see here Kanetaka behind a screen, lit up by the moon, with his sword poised to strike. But Kagekado cunningly put his helmet onto the end of his spear causing Kanetaka to attempt to aim for it which left him exposed and allowed Kagekado to strike in turn a fatal blow and kill him. Yoshitoshi illustrates the moment just before Kanetaka’s death with Kagekado about to make the deadly thrust with his spear with deceptive helmet about to fall off. The detail is exceptional with particular attention given to the wood panel to the rear, created with an imitation woodgrain effect, where a woodblock’s natural grain is emphasized through soaking in water; in addition the black details have been burnished to imitate lacquer.

The artist's seal, ‘Taiso’, is printed in red relief within a rectangular cartouche to the lower left and his signature can be seen above (see image 4). The title, ‘Kagekado, Moon of Yamaki Mansion’, appears in the square cartouche to the upper right and the series title, ‘One Hundred Aspects of the Moon’, in the rectangular cartouche next to it (see image 5). On the reverse is affixed an identification note from the British Museum dated 1983 confirming the artist and the subject of the print which appears to have survived in a remarkably fine state of preservation.

Japanese Arita Tea Set, boxed, late C20th

Price: £55

This is a Japanese porcelain tea set, comprising a teapot and cover, with an interior wire ‘sieve’ at the base of the spout, and five footed teabowls, all decorated in underglaze blue with enamel highlights in red and green and incorporating floral and landscape designs with geometric patterns. The teapot lid and all the five bowls are signed, presumably with the factory or decorator’s name, in underglaze blue and the lid of the box also has a calligraphic inscription. While made towards the end of the twentieth century, the style of decoration here reflects earlier pieces made at the kilns in Arita for export to the West. Certainly, the quality is a match for the older counterparts and the set has both practical and decorative appeal. Five cups are included since the Japanese ‘set’ contains one less item than the European one. The inscription on the lid, which is found elsewhere on similar sets, apparently contains the wording ‘Sweet smelling goods’ and ‘Arita Ware’.

Chinese Blue and White Snuff Bottle with Jade stopper, early C20th

Price: £45

A Chinese snuff bottle of flattened ovoid form, the stopper with a jade top above the cork sealed wand, decorated in underglaze blue with two birds amidst flowering peony or plum blossom, the base with a four character mark in underglaze blue. The paste of the foot and the fairly coarse style of the painting suggest a circa date to around 1900 or a little thereafter but the design is attractive and the bottle survives with its stopper and wand intact which is not always the case.

Chinese celadon glaze sake cup with shou symbols, Qing dynasty (1644-1912)

Price: £55

A Chinese celadon glazed cup, the curved walls above a short foot and flaring outwards slightly at the rim decorated in underglaze blue with six identical auspicious characters, the base unglazed and with a recessed foot. There are no easy parallels for this bowl, although there are various straight sided bowls with underglaze blue Chinese characters, optimistically marked as from the Xuande dynasty (1425-1435), and most likely modern. The celadon glaze here is of fine quality with minute bubbles (see especially images 3 & 5) and the form of the foot, with its recessed base is most unusual, indeed seemingly without parallel. The underglaze blue characters are for ‘shou’ (壽), meaning ‘longevity’, and often used either in character or abstract circular form as a decorative motif. Care has clearly been taken here and the paste of the foot is most certainly Chinese but while dating is highly uncertain it is unlikely to be later than the early twentieth century. The base has two scratched marks ( ‘A’ ‘R’??) which might be those of the bowl’s one time owner. Perhaps its next owner will be lucky enough to discover rather more about it!

Chinese Rose Medallion Saucer circa 1860

Price: £45

A Chinese saucer with a lightly lobed edge decorated in the Cantonese style with ‘c’ border panels of ladies with attendants and birds and flowers on a gilt ground with green enamel scroll work, butterflies and peony blooms. This well known design is termed ‘Rose Medallion’ from its palette of colours and the use of vignette panel scenes (the ‘medallions’). It was one of the successors to the ‘Mandarin’ wares produced for export in the late eighteenth century and evolved around 1840, being produced in a varying range of qualities until the end of the century. It was used to decorate vases, bowls and table wares and this saucer, originally with a matching cup, would have come from a small tea service. The work is good quality with no flaking to the enamels and the gilt detail to the ladies’ hair well preserved, implying a circa date of around 1860. While it has become detached from its original companions it can stand today as a decorative item in itself and a fine recollection of a once popular style.

Chinese silk embroidery panel, early C20th, later framed

Price: £75

A very fine quality Chinese silk embroidered panel, the main design showing two birds sitting on branches of flowering lotus, the scene in two halves in close mirror image, within an inner gilt thread border of stylised clouds and an outer border of repeating butterflies. The precision and detail of the stitching display the very best work of the Chinese needlework craftsmen, most likely women, working in the early twentieth century. Embroidered panels were exported to the West, sometimes in their own Chinese made frames as screens or table screens and sometimes unmounted for framing on arrival. The frame here is modern, although highly sympathetic, but the fabric borders at the edge, a common feature of these pieces, look to be contemporary with the panel itself suggesting that an older frame was recently replaced. The combination is most successful, and the embroidery itself remains in excellent condition with no loss to the threads or staining to the silk backing, which is not always the case, making this a fine decorative addition for a contemporary interior.

Chinese Mandarin Pattern Spoon Tray, Qianlong period circa 1760

Price: £350

A Chinese Spoon Tray of typical form with lobed hexagonal sides and a flat unglazed base, decorated in 'famille rose' enamels to the centre with a court figure scene depicting a male courtier sitting on a low table surrounded by ladies and a child (the term 'mandarin' derives from the name of the male court officials who are so often seen in the scenes decorated in this style), the border with small vignette panels in puce and orange enamel depicting landscape scenes and flowers on a gilt stylised floral ground, the exterior plain.

This piece comes from an original tea service which would have comprised a wide variety of objects decorated in the same pattern to include a teapot, cover and stand, a caddy and cover, a sugar bowl, a cream jug and cover, bowls and saucers and so forth. The form can be seen (along with a matching teapot stand) at Lunsingh Scheurleer, Chinese Export Porcelain pl 149. Dating is to the middle of the Qianlong period (1736-1795) around 1760. The quality of the decoration speaks for itself and this piece has survived intact with very little wear to the decoration.

LOT 26

Chinese painting on silk, Camellias with a small Bee, signed, C20th

Estimate: £40 – 60

14d 6h 16m

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