Title: Hachikazuki (The Bowl-Bearer Princess), Circa 1600-1650. A Sumptuously Illuminated and Hand Painted Series of Sixteen Illuminated Yamato-E Paintings. An extremely Scarce Nara Ehon of this Otogi Zoshi Tale, a Japanese Cinderella
Condition: Fair
An Early Edo Period, 17th century series of 16 beautifully illuminated Yamato-E paintings, possibly for a Nara Ehon narrative, and made for the tale of the Bowl-Bearer Princess, taken from the Otogi-zōshi Collection of Muromachi Period prose.
Originally written in the Muromachi Period, the tale varies at times but begins with a couple and their beautiful daughter. On her deathbed, the girl's elderly mother makes her promise to always wear a wooden bowl on her head to cover her beauty. Following this, her father marries again, and the girl is left with a cruel stepmother. Escaping from the abusive household, the girl ends up in the employment in a lord’s mansion, where the lord’s son sees beneath her wooden bowl, and is enraptured by her beauty. When it is time for a bridal selection, Hachikazuki participates, and is chosen by the lord’s son, though she states her bowl must stay on throughout the ceremony. The ending differs, but regardless, it is a happy one when the bowl either falls or breaks from Hachikazuki’s head, revealing or turning into a trove of jewels and treasure.
Each painting has been produced on fine torinoko paper, and the paintings are beautifully produced with profuse usage of gold leaf, gold inks, and clouds to decorate the borders. The detailing to each figure and building are also finely painted, with significant attention to detail on the vestments and kimono patterns, the courtyards and mansion halls, and even shading techniques used on the gardens and greenery. The fukinuki yatai technique is used here as well, where we can see beyond the roof of the buildings where individuals may be residing.
As these paintings are without any accompanying text or contemporary inscriptions, we can only roughly date these paintings based off the style of painting and illumination, as well as comparing to similarly produced Nara Ehon and when those examples were dated.
Based on some of the incurred damage, it is most likely that the paintings were at some point pasted onto a folding screen to serve as décor, later removed, and then laid down on sheets.
From the Muromachi to Mid Edo Period, Nara Ehon were produced in both booklet and scroll format, typically drawing from tales of the Otogi-zōshi, regular scenes of life, and other sources. There is a theory that they were created by Buddhist sculptors such as those at Kofuku-ji Temple in Nara, but the name was created after the Meiji period, and the relationship to Nara is unknown.
16 illuminated Nara Ehon, shikishi format paintings on paper, mounted on sheets, 20 x 17.5 cm
These paintings are in fair shape, with wear and rubbing to the paintings, and staining to several. Some of the paintings have suffered heavier cracking than others, with loss noted mostly to the faces of some of the figures. Please refer to the photos for more.