OSAWA NAMPO: A HUMOROUS OSHI-E (PADDED SILK) PAINTING DEPICTING A FROG DAIMYO PROCESSION

By Osawa Nampo (born 1845), signed Osawa Nampo onna saku with seal Nampo
Japan, late 19^th century, Meiji period (1868-1912)

Watercolors and padded silk on canvas. Set within a wood frame. Amusingly painted and applied in the oshi-e technique to depict a whimsical parody of a daimyo gyoretsu (feudal lord’s procession), the entourage is formed by lively frogs marching in file, several carry banners made from lotus leaves, while others shoulder poles or guard the cart at the rear.

Inscriptions: To the lower left, Osawa Nampo onna saku 大澤 南芳 女 作 [made by Osawa Nampo, a female artist] with seal Nampo 南芳.

SIZE 54 x 85 cm, SIZE incl. frame 61 x 89.7 cm

Condition: Fair condition with expected wear. Few stains, rubbing, obvious losses to some frogs, and tears to the canvas. Repairs to the largest tear near the bottom. Overall presenting well.

Osawa Nampo (born 1845) was a female painter from the Nihonbashi district of Edo (modern Tokyo). She studied painting under Okamoto Shuki (1807–1862), a leading follower of the Shijo school, and later under Aoki Nanka (1817–1903). Nampo is remembered as one of the relatively few female artists of her generation to achieve recognition within the male-dominated art world of late Edo and Meiji Japan.

Nampo’s work became known in the West through its extraordinary connection to James McNeill Whistler. A pair of her flower paintings, signed and dated 1866 and 1867, were sent to Europe before 1871. These works were later incorporated into a folding screen together with Whistler’s Blue and Silver: Screen, with Old Battersea Bridge (1871–72). Whistler’s painting, dominated by the piers of Old Battersea Bridge with the Albert Suspension Bridge under construction in the background, was planned during the summer of 1871 and exhibited in his 1874 show at the Flemish Gallery, London, as Screen – Blue and Silver. The screen uniquely combined Whistler’s composition with Nampo’s earlier Japanese paintings, although they were made on separate supports and it remains uncertain when they were framed back-to-back to form a single object.

Oshi-e, also known as kiritori zaiku was a technique in which paper or silk wadding is covered with dyed and painted silk or paper to create padded relief designs. Little is known of this technique, but it probably dates back to the Muromachi Period. In the Meiji era, oshi-e was regarded as a feminine accomplishment alongside ikebana, tea ceremony and embroidery. Few recorded examples survive today but the genre was displayed in the 'Fancy Articles' section of the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876.

Museum comparison:
Compare a related silk painting depicting the procession of daimyo, by Sakurai Seppo, dated before 1880, in the Whyte Museum of Canadian Rockies, accession number SeP.15.01.

Auction comparison:
Compare a related oshi-e (padded silk) painting of an insect parade, by Sekka, dated to the Meiji period, at Bonhams, Asian Art, 13 November 2013, Edinburgh, lot 98 (sold for GBP 1,500 or approx. EUR 2,800 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Compare a related oshi-e (padded silk) painting, by Sekka, dated to the late 19^th-early 20^th century, at Bonhams, Fine Japanese Art, 11 May 2017, London, lot 192 (sold for GBP 6,250 or approx. EUR 11,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).