A RARE JAPANESE SET OF FOUR PADDED-SILK PANELS

A RARE JAPANESE SET OF FOUR PADDED-SILK PANELS, OSHI-E

MEIJI 1868-1912

Variously depicting rice and tea cultivation, sericulture and porcelain production, the many figures depicted in relief with silk and paper on the painted ground, each picture signed Sekka and with a red seal, all framed and glazed, the pictures 50cm x 83cm (excl. frames). (4)

Cf. H T McDermot & C Pollard, Threads of Silk and Gold, Ornamental Textiles from Meiji Japan, pp178-183, where comparable examples of oshi-e pictures are discussed.

These oshi-e pictures and the one depicting porcelain making in particular are reminiscent of shokunin zukushi-e, 'pictures of people of various occupations in their workshops'. Craftsmen engaged in daily activities is a theme that became popular in early modern Japan, especially after the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, when Kyoto was rebuilt by these skilled tradesmen. The bird's-eye perspective used by Sekka is a common technique found in these early depictions of shokunin which came in different formats: albums (gajo), handscrolls (makimono) and panels which were displayed in merchants' houses above alcoves and cupboards, and which may have inspired these framed pictures. There is an obvious effort to create dynamic and humorous scenes, with details such as a cat eating fishbones, doves flying away or a chicken surveying a couple of hens. It is possible that these were also inspired by woodblock prints, and some details in particular seem to imitate works by Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842-1894). The two men throwing pots in the picture depicting ceramic production is probably inspired by his woodblock print 'Manufacturing Imari Porcelain in Hizen', part of the series Dai Nippon Bussan Zue (Products of Greater Japan). This series of 118 prints was produced in August 1877, shortly before the opening of Japan's first National Industrial Exposition (Naikoku Kangyô Hakurankai).

These highly narrative pictures include a wealth of details displaying different aspects of these typically Japanese productions. Their 'exoticism' would have appealed to Western customers for which these were probably made. Oshi-e were notably displayed at the World's Columbian Exhibition (1893), the Venice International Exhibition (1897) and the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition (1876) in the 'Fancy Articles' section.