Title: Haseo Soshi Emaki (The Haseo Soshi Picture Scroll), Circa 1700-1750. A Beautifully Painted Tale of the Heian Court Challenged by the Demonic Oni of Suzakumon Gate, with Five Gargantuan Scenes. 11 Meters Long, in the Style of a Nara Emaki
Author: Style of the Tosa School; Previously Owned by Miyahara Suiun
Condition: Very Good
A Mid Edo Period, early to mid 18th century emakimono handscroll, entitled Haseo Soshi Emaki, or The Haseo. As the title would entail, the story pertains to Ki no Haseo, a documented scholar, poet and diplomat from the early Heian period. He was an acquaintance of poets such as Miyako no Yoshika and Sugawara no Michizane but was not closely affiliated with any political factions. After his death, a number of legends arose, including this tale of his encounter of the Oni at Suzakumon Gate.
The legend may have been in circulation as the 12th century, though document evidence only goes back to the late 13th century. A version of this legend is also preserved in the scroll Haseo Sōshi, from the collection of the Eisei Bunko Museum. It was formerly assumed that it was originally created in the fifteenth century, but the consensus has shifted towards late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, the Kamakura Period. Our scroll appears to be copied after the Eisei Bunko compositions.
Each painting has been lovingly rendered in great detail, and quite a variety of colors and hues have been used, adding brightness and liveliness to the compositions. Though there are only five scenes, each one is positively gargantuan in length, the first one alone being 190 cm. Each scene is ruther decorated with large blue clouds, obscuring backgrounds and drawing focus to the individuals, very much in the style of a Nara Emaki, and rather reminiscent of Tosa School Techniques.
The story begins with a stranger approaching Haseo to offer him a game of sugoroku, to which he agrees. Arriving to the stranger’s residence in Suzakumon, a bet is made where if the stranger loses, he will reward Haseo with an unusual woman, while in the reverse, Haseo will forfeit his wealth. The stranger then sheds his disguise, revealing to be a monstrous oni. Regardless of the danger posed, Haseo wins, and the oni introduces him to an exceedingly beautiful woman but states it would be unsafe to make love to her sooner than in exactly a hundred days. At first Haseo complied, but by 80 days starts to doubt the instruction, and embraces her, but she instantly dissolved into water and flows away. Months later, Haseo encounters the oni again, but this time is attacked by the demon, prompting the poet to prompting him to call upon the protection of Tenjin, the deified Sugawara no Michizane, Causing the Oni to flee. In the calligraphical text, it is revealed that the oni regrets having given the women to Haseo, as she was pieced together from pieces of corpses, and could only gain a soul after 100 days. A rather Frankenstein-ish twist.
The emakimono bears the ownership stamps of Miyahara Suiun (? - ?), a Meiji-era Japanese painter and book collector. His given name was Ren, and he was a descendant of Miyahara Itsuhachi, a samurai of the Mikawa Tahara domain. After serving as a section chief in Hamamatsu Prefecture, he devoted himself to collecting antique calligraphy and writing in Tokyo. He also excelled in landscape painting, being a student of the Kishi school in Enshu.
The paintings and calligraphy have been laid down and bound in a scroll for preservation, with a once beautiful but now largely worn brocade decorated cover of dulled gold against green, and there are jikusaki (knobs) made of lacquered wood.
Having search auction records, I cannot find any example having sold at any western sales in recent history. The only known record I can find is from the Jonathan Hill Catalog #225 of 2018, where an exceedingly similar copy of a Haseo Soshi Emaki was retailed for 45,000 USD, now since sold.
One brocade decorated emakimono (picture scroll) on paper, 40.5 x 1108 cm. The knobs are not included as part of the measurement.
This emakimono is in very good shape, with wear and rubbing to the brocade cover, with many brocade strands lost to time. There is minor creasing throughout, and near the end are a few worm tracks to the upper margin, not affecting the illustrations. There is minor soiling scattered throughout.