AINO IHEI (ACT. C.1800-50)

AINO IHEI (ACT. C.1800-50)
THE SEVEN GODS OF GOOD FORTUNE
EDO PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY

Four massive Japanese wood panels, each decorated in coloured gesso on the wooden ground with one or two of the Shichifukujin, the Gods depicted on wooden stands and engaged in a variety of activities: one panel with Hotei and Benten playing music whilst a boy performs acrobatics on a ladder beside them; another with Bishamonten fighting three oni causing mischief; the third depicting Daikokuten and Jurojin beside a boy attendant holding a mirror; the fourth with Ebisu catching a large fish whilst Fukurokuju performs the crane dance; the first panel signed Dai Nihon, Osaka, sashimonoshi, Aino Ihei (Made by Aino Ihei, a wood craft maker, Osaka, Great Japan); each panel in a bamboo frame, each 177.5cm x 90.5cm. (4)

PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE.

Aino Ihei was a member of the Aino school of wood carving, who specialised in architectural ornaments for Shinto shrines and Buddhist buildings, processional carts and drum stands.