Nobleman and Entourage
Original Language Title室町時代 絵巻断簡 行幸図 紙本著色
Former TitleProcession of Emperor Shirakawa to Ono to Enjoy the Snowy Landscape
CultureJapanese
Date15th century
MediumHandscroll fragment mounted as Hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper
DimensionsOverall: 11 1/2 × 19 7/8 inches (29.21 × 50.48 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. George H. Bunting Jr.
Object number81-27/29
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionCream-color hard paper; a nobleman, dressed in yellow court costume, rides a black horse in leading a retinue consisting of four, mounted warriors whose horses are prancing and posturing. Two of the warriors are dressed in plain green costume while the other two wear elaborate robes significant of a superior rank. Five other figures are interspersed among the mounted ones and shown without benefit of ground plane or scenery. Short flexing and triangular brush strokes and areas of generally flat color depict the figures in a manner characteristic of the Yamato-e manner.Gallery Label
This scene shows a high-ranking nobleman (atop the
horse at left) leading a group of courtiers (also on horseback) and retainers
(on foot) on what appears to be a hunting expedition. Since the 800s, long handscrolls with text and
illustrations of tales were created for private pleasure. Many handscrolls,
such as the present example, were later cut up and remounted for hanging on
walls. Separated from its original text, the exact tale represented here is unclear.
With Mayuyama & Co., Tokyo, by 1966;
Purchased from Mayuyama & Co. by Karen Dean Bunting (1912-1981), Shawnee Mission, KS, before October 31, 1966-1981 [1];
Her bequest to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1981.
NOTES:
[1] Undated object documentation on Mayuyama letterhead, as well as a letter to Bunting from Howard C. Hollis, dated October 31, 1966, discussing the scroll and a similar one in Hollis’s collection, are in the Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.
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Iwasa Matabei
Edo period (1615-1868)
81-27/33
