Title: Nineteen Paintings from a Sanjurokkasen (Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry) Series, Circa 1603-1700. Sumptuously Illuminated Examples, possibly by a Major School
Author: In the Style of the Tosa School; Poetry Originally Compiled by Fujiwara no Kinto
Condition: Very Good
An Early Edo Period, 17th century selection of 19 large paintings in shikishi format from a copy of the Sanjurokkasen, also more famously known as the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.
Selected by Fujiwara no Kintō of the Heian Period, they are a group of Japanese poets of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian Periods as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability.
Since that, various editions of the Sanjurokkasen have been produced, from the Thirty-Six Female Immortals of Poetry, the New Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry, and even the Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry, each with a unique selection of poets.
Each painting depicts a different poet, with a rather high degree of skill applied to the compositions, with heavy detailing and considerable shading techniques used. The facial features are also rather varied and detailed, and all figures have been highlighted with gold detailing, making them much more visually distinct. The level of skill, and the gold detailing more specifically, is rather comparable to Tosa School albums and productions, and some of the effort in detailing the layers of clothing makes me think of several Tosa Mitsuoki compositions.
Nineteen illuminated paintings in shikishi format, 29.9 x 25 to 32.4 x 25.5 cm
These paintings are in good shape, with some rubbing and wear largely affecting the background, with the main poet compositions largely being unaffected. Two of the paintings have small tear damage, one of which was crudely repaired. A third painting has two small worm tracks.