DOI issue:
No. 298 (January 1918)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21264#0183
Studio-Talk
CHA-WAN (TEA-BOWLS FOR CHA-NO-YD CEREMONY)
First row: Bowl decorated with pine, bamboo, and plum (8100 yen) ; black bowl (67,000 yen);
Shonzui bowl (4000 yen); bow! by Ninsei (53,000 yen); black bowl, old Korai (438 yen).
Second row: Black bowl, Myokian (2000 yen); Goshomaru jawan (1610 yen); "Red Blossom”
bowl by Kakkakusai (1800 yen); " Evening Crow ” by Kovetsu (1410 yen); red bowl (226 yen).
Third row: Tsutsu jawan (4180 yen); "Ere Dawn" (700 yen); warped bowl, Taketore (2700
yen); Asahi jawan, “Young Grass ” (1700 yen); base of red bowl shown above.
(1Sold at Mr. Akaboshi\s sale in Tokyo)
The most inspiring work in the entire sale was
Nachi Waterfall by Kose-no-Kanaoka, a great
master of Buddhistic painting who lived a thou-
sand years ago. This superb work was sold for
85,600 yen. It depicts the famous waterfall in
moonlight, and is one of the paintings that will
live in my memory throughout life. The
autumnal colours on the hill-top, faintly visible,
teem with poetic feeling. The thickly wooded
mountain looms in the distance in all its sylvan
tranquillity. The water falling in a silvery
streak from a stupendous height is a symbol of
power and might. There is dignity in the
mighty torrent, and its grandeur is greatly
enhanced by the water gushing down between
stately cedars. The moon rising from behind
the mountain seems to intensify the shadows,
and the thunderous roar of the rushing water
accentuates the silence of the night among the
mountains. I know of no painting of a water-
fall that can be compared with this in its grand
nobility. -
In the dignified simplicity of its lines, no
drawing was superior to a spray of orchid drawn
by Jakubun, a Chinese priest of high artistic
attainment and noble character. This very
small kakemono was once in the possession of
Shogun Yoshimasa, and undoubtedly this fact
helped to secure for it a bid of 87,000 yen.
Another simple painting of great artistic merit
was a kakemono (sold for 13,100 yen) of two
herons on a willow-tree painted by Sesson, a
talented Japanese priest-artist who lived some
three hundred and fifty years ago, and whose
wonderful facility and dexterity with the brush
were well shown in this picture. Still another
gem in the sale was a landscape by Shubun, a
famous Japanese priest-artist of about five hun-
dred years ago. In a narrow strip of silk, the
artist succeeded in presenting a vast expanse of
landscape. This kakemono was sold for 15,010 yen.
The sale comprised a number of excellent
Buddhistic paintings, and prominent among
them, though it did not bring much more than
4000 yen, much less than the price paid for
167
CHA-WAN (TEA-BOWLS FOR CHA-NO-YD CEREMONY)
First row: Bowl decorated with pine, bamboo, and plum (8100 yen) ; black bowl (67,000 yen);
Shonzui bowl (4000 yen); bow! by Ninsei (53,000 yen); black bowl, old Korai (438 yen).
Second row: Black bowl, Myokian (2000 yen); Goshomaru jawan (1610 yen); "Red Blossom”
bowl by Kakkakusai (1800 yen); " Evening Crow ” by Kovetsu (1410 yen); red bowl (226 yen).
Third row: Tsutsu jawan (4180 yen); "Ere Dawn" (700 yen); warped bowl, Taketore (2700
yen); Asahi jawan, “Young Grass ” (1700 yen); base of red bowl shown above.
(1Sold at Mr. Akaboshi\s sale in Tokyo)
The most inspiring work in the entire sale was
Nachi Waterfall by Kose-no-Kanaoka, a great
master of Buddhistic painting who lived a thou-
sand years ago. This superb work was sold for
85,600 yen. It depicts the famous waterfall in
moonlight, and is one of the paintings that will
live in my memory throughout life. The
autumnal colours on the hill-top, faintly visible,
teem with poetic feeling. The thickly wooded
mountain looms in the distance in all its sylvan
tranquillity. The water falling in a silvery
streak from a stupendous height is a symbol of
power and might. There is dignity in the
mighty torrent, and its grandeur is greatly
enhanced by the water gushing down between
stately cedars. The moon rising from behind
the mountain seems to intensify the shadows,
and the thunderous roar of the rushing water
accentuates the silence of the night among the
mountains. I know of no painting of a water-
fall that can be compared with this in its grand
nobility. -
In the dignified simplicity of its lines, no
drawing was superior to a spray of orchid drawn
by Jakubun, a Chinese priest of high artistic
attainment and noble character. This very
small kakemono was once in the possession of
Shogun Yoshimasa, and undoubtedly this fact
helped to secure for it a bid of 87,000 yen.
Another simple painting of great artistic merit
was a kakemono (sold for 13,100 yen) of two
herons on a willow-tree painted by Sesson, a
talented Japanese priest-artist who lived some
three hundred and fifty years ago, and whose
wonderful facility and dexterity with the brush
were well shown in this picture. Still another
gem in the sale was a landscape by Shubun, a
famous Japanese priest-artist of about five hun-
dred years ago. In a narrow strip of silk, the
artist succeeded in presenting a vast expanse of
landscape. This kakemono was sold for 15,010 yen.
The sale comprised a number of excellent
Buddhistic paintings, and prominent among
them, though it did not bring much more than
4000 yen, much less than the price paid for
167