13th Jun, 2025 10:00
Fine Japanese Art
325
A RARE HANGING SCROLL PAINTING OF A MEDITATING SKELETON
Sold for €2,860
including Buyer's Premium
Japan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
Ink and watercolors on paper. Mounted as a hanging scroll within a silk brocade frame with ivory jikusaki (roller ends). Finely painted as a skeleton performing zazen, the “hands” held above the lap, all against a black ground.
Image SIZE 120.5 x 47 cm, SIZE incl. mounting 208 x 65 cm
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear, some flaking, and few creases and folds.
Important notice: Please note that we will need to remove the ivory roller ends before shipping / handing over the item. The roller ends are not part of this offer.
With a wood tomobako (storage box).
This arresting painting of a skeleton seated in a posture of meditation is a powerful reminder of the imminence of death but might also suggest the potential for transcending the physical body through Buddhist practice. This work may relate to an earlier Japanese Buddhist artistic subject, the “Nine stages of a decaying corpse” (Kusozu). In nine images, this series shows the physical decay of the human body and is intended to encourage reflection on impermanence. The eighth image is of a complete skeleton, and the ninth shows that skeleton disjointed and broken apart. The meditating skeleton subject may be a creative addition to that familiar series, which was widely known by the Edo period (1615–1868) through woodblock prints as well as paintings presented to the public at Buddhist temples.
Museum comparison:
For a closely related painting, painted in 1787 by Maruyama Okyo (1733–1795), see the collection of Daijoji Temple in Hyogo, Japan. For another related painting of a meditating skeleton, by Koen Todo, mid- to late 19th century, see the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, object number 2021.6.
Japan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)
Ink and watercolors on paper. Mounted as a hanging scroll within a silk brocade frame with ivory jikusaki (roller ends). Finely painted as a skeleton performing zazen, the “hands” held above the lap, all against a black ground.
Image SIZE 120.5 x 47 cm, SIZE incl. mounting 208 x 65 cm
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear, some flaking, and few creases and folds.
Important notice: Please note that we will need to remove the ivory roller ends before shipping / handing over the item. The roller ends are not part of this offer.
With a wood tomobako (storage box).
This arresting painting of a skeleton seated in a posture of meditation is a powerful reminder of the imminence of death but might also suggest the potential for transcending the physical body through Buddhist practice. This work may relate to an earlier Japanese Buddhist artistic subject, the “Nine stages of a decaying corpse” (Kusozu). In nine images, this series shows the physical decay of the human body and is intended to encourage reflection on impermanence. The eighth image is of a complete skeleton, and the ninth shows that skeleton disjointed and broken apart. The meditating skeleton subject may be a creative addition to that familiar series, which was widely known by the Edo period (1615–1868) through woodblock prints as well as paintings presented to the public at Buddhist temples.
Museum comparison:
For a closely related painting, painted in 1787 by Maruyama Okyo (1733–1795), see the collection of Daijoji Temple in Hyogo, Japan. For another related painting of a meditating skeleton, by Koen Todo, mid- to late 19th century, see the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, object number 2021.6.
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