A TWO-PANEL BYOBU (FOLDING SCREEN) DEPICTING A TANUKI BY MOONLIGHT

拍品描述

A TWO-PANEL BYOBU (FOLDING SCREEN) DEPICTING A TANUKI BY MOONLIGHT Japan, 18th-19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Ink and silver on paper, mounted on a silk brocade frame finely decorated with flowerheads and leafy scrolling vines, set within two black-lacquered wood panels with chased metal fittings. Finely painted to depict a tanuki sitting amidst a field of susuki grass, interrupting his belly-drumming session as he notices the full moon above, still partly shrouded in the mist. SIZE 143.5 x 119.6 cm (with frame) and 125.4 x 102.2 cm (image) The tanuki possess magical powers and can change forms, sometimes into Buddhist monks; they are jovial, but also dangerous, as they have been known to suffocate hunters with their enormous scrotums. The act of drumming on the belly, according to legend, was used by tanuki to beguile travelers and hunters to lead them astray. However, it has also been said that tanuki would get together just for fun, drumming on their bellies under the moonlight, perhaps even with some sake involved.

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