SASAKI EISHIN: A RARE AND IMPRESSIVE SIX-PANEL BYOBU ‘LEOPARD AND TIGERS’ (FOLDING SCREEN)

拍品描述

SASAKI EISHIN: A RARE AND IMPRESSIVE SIX-PANEL BYOBU ‘LEOPARD AND TIGERS’ (FOLDING SCREEN) By Sasaki Eishin (active c. 1830), signed Heian Royo and sealed Royosai Japan, c. 1830, Edo period (1615-1868) Ink, watercolors, and gouache on paper. Mounted on silk brocade on six lacquered wood panels with pierced metal fittings. Finely painted to depict a dramatic scene of a tiger leaping through the turbulent river, carrying its young, while a leopard grooms itself on the riverbank, surrounded by bamboo. Inscriptions: To the left side, signed Heian Royo 平安朗耀 and sealed Royosai 朗耀斎. SIZE 171 x 381 cm Sasaki Eishin, active in the early 19th century, appears to have worked in Kyoto (as suggested by the use of “Heian” in his signature) and was likely influenced by the Maruyama-Shijo tradition as well as the powerful animal imagery associated with the Kishi school. The composition reflects a Japanese understanding of tiger imagery derived from Chinese models, adapted in a culture where tigers were known, though not native to Japan. In premodern Japan, the leopard (hyo) was often understood as the female counterpart of the tiger, and the present scene may therefore be read as a tiger and its mate carrying their young across a turbulent river. The image conveys themes of parental care, cooperation, and protection, while also illustrating how imported continental motifs were reinterpreted within Japanese visual culture through observation, imagination, and inherited convention. Museum comparison: Compare a related pair of six-panel screens depicting tigers crossing the water, by Kishi Ganku, dated to the early 1800s, 179.4 x 384.8 cm, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1983.3. Compare a related six-panel screen depicting a tiger and leopard, by Kishi Ganku, dated 18th-19th century, 171.2 x 372.1 cm, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, object number 94.4.2.

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