Sekitaku Shinano No Doshinbutsu Ink Rubbings of Roadside Stone-Carved Deities in the Shinano Province
Japan: Otosaburo Moriizumi, 1972. F. 10 rubbings made by Otosaburo Moriizumi; these are printed in black and white on fine thin Japanese paper; each rubbing tipped-on by its corners to a thin cardstock backer and with a dark blue, gray or green stiff paper "window" surround; with a 4-sided folding explanatory sheet, text in Japanese & English, including a brief introduction by Shoji Hamada; with an illustration of Mr. Moriizumi, biographical details and information on the rubbings; the author-collector "chose ten lovely carvings found in the Matsumoto district" for this selection; images and titles (in Japanese) of the images, with the dates of creation if known, these from 1695 - 1870 - the undated images from earlier times; and with the sizes of the original carvings in cm.; (from the author's text): "...We often find a group of three or four naive stone-carved images at the village borders and crossings when we travel along olden ways of Shinano Province. It became popular among farmers to make this sort of stone images from the middle Edo period based on their belief. They prayed for fertility and prosperity by erecting such images representing Buddhist, Shinto and folkloric deities. Among them the most prevalent is Dosojin, a pair of male and female folkloric gods. They were considered to be patron gods for children and young couples and gods who brought the peace of the village and abundance of crops....Besides these independent images there are stone carvings known as koshin tower. ..the relief of Blue-headed Kongo, a Buddhist deity, as the main image, and that of the sun and moon above..."; all items loosely contained in a blue paper-covered hardcover folding portfolio with paper title label printed in two colors; the overall size is approx. 15" x 19 3/4"; the art of varying sizes, some taking the entire sheet, some smaller; the portfolio contained in the original protective cardboard slipcase, also with paper title label; some edgewear, age-darkening and closed tears to cardstock slipcase; blue portfolio with light wear, a few cover scratches; text portion with a little edge-creasing; one of the rubbing plates with a ¾" paper flaw or rub in the background paper; two of the green paper surrounding 'window' mounts with sunning to gold on the inner ½" of the border; the artwork in very good condition; an interesting Japanese folk-art collection, iconic imagery. Item #23967
Price: $500.00