TOSA SCHOOL (18TH CENTURY)
TOSA SCHOOL (18TH CENTURY)
TOSA SCHOOL (18TH CENTURY)
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TOSA SCHOOL (18TH CENTURY)

Whale hunting and harvesting

Details
TOSA SCHOOL (18TH CENTURY)
Whale hunting and harvesting
Right screen sealed Chikanobu and left screen with a illegible red seal
Pair of six-panel screens; ink and color on paper
46 ¼ x 120 1⁄8 in. (117.5 x 305.4 cm.) each(2)

Brought to you by

Takaaki Murakami (村上高明)
Takaaki Murakami (村上高明) Vice President, Specialist and Head of Department | Korean Art

Lot Essay

The depiction of whale hunting is extremely rare in Japanese art, and only a few examples are known.
One notable work is a six-panel screen by Tosa Mitsunori (1583–1638), depicting an almost identical hunting scene. This piece, in the collection of Osaka Museum of History, is believed to be the oldest known painting on this subject.
A print artist from the 19th century, Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826–1869), also explored this theme in his work Hizen Goto geiryo no zu (View of a Whale Hunt at Goto in Hizen Province), which is part of the series Shokoku meisho hyakkei (One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces).

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