242 - AN IMPRESSIVE AND RARE TWO-PANEL ‘BATTLE OF ICHI-NO-TANI’ BYOBU (FOLDING SCREEN), FROM THE TALE OF THE HEIKE

AN IMPRESSIVE AND RARE TWO-PANEL ‘BATTLE OF ICHI-NO-TANI’ BYOBU (FOLDING SCREEN), FROM THE TALE OF THE HEIKE Japan, 17th century, Edo period (1615-1868). Ink, colors, gold pigment, and gold leaf on paper. Mounted within silk brocade borders and black-lacquered wood frames with finely worked copper-alloy fittings, including circular floral mounts which may represent plum blossoms and are perhaps evocative of the Kaga umebachi mon associated with the Maeda family of Kaga. Finely painted with episodes from the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani of 1184, one of the decisive engagements of the Genpei War recounted in the Tale of the Heike. Elaborately armored Minamoto and Taira warriors advance through a hilly landscape of rocky outcrops, streams, bridges, pines, and drooping willows, while mounted warriors gallop through the valleys. Their armor, helmets, swords, bows, spears, standards, and horse trappings are carefully differentiated. Broad passages of shimmering gold cloud divide the successive episodes and lend depth and rhythm to the composition. At the far right, an elderly bald man holding a woven kasa is accompanied by a youth, representing the old hunter and his son Washio Yoshihisa. According to the Tale of the Heike, the hunter advised Yoshitsune on the route through the mountains behind the Taira position and, being too old to accompany him, sent his son as guide, enabling Yoshitsune’s celebrated descent upon the Taira forces. At the lower right, another episode depicts the death of Taira no Tadanori (Tadanori no saigo). Tadanori is shown overpowering the Minamoto warrior Okabe Tadazumi, whom he has pinned to the ground, before being struck by one of Okabe’s retainers and killed. Okabe later identified the fallen warrior from a waka poem attached to his quiver. Nearby, warriors gather solemnly beneath a striped field curtain, one raising his sleeve to his face in grief, perhaps representing the aftermath of Tadanori’s death. The Tale of the Heike relates that warriors on both sides mourned the celebrated warrior-poet. SIZE 182 x 203 cm Provenance: The collection of Joanne (1930-2013) and Howard Hamamoto (1931-2024), Honolulu, Hawaii. Howard Hamamoto was a prominent supporter of cultural exchange between Japan and the United States, serving as chairman of the Japan-America Society of Hawaii and the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation. In 2014, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, by the Government of Japan. Together, Joanne and Howard Hamamoto assembled a collection reflecting their longstanding engagement with Japanese art and culture. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, with extensive wear, scattered flaking and losses to pigments, minor stains and soiling, and minute losses to the painted surface. The silk brocade borders with losses and tears, the mounting and frames with further wear and traces of use. Presenting beautifully. Literature comparison: Compare a closely related pair of two-panel folding screens depicting the Genpei War, Edo period, 17th century, in the Kagawa Museum, the right screen depicting the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani, size 150.4 x 169 cm. The museum dates the screens to the Keicho (1596-1615) to Genna (1615-1624) eras and notes stylistic affinities with the Hasegawa school. Compare also a related Kano school six-panel folding screen depicting the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani, dated to the Kan'ei era (1624-1644), 155.4 x 373.8 cm, in the British Museum, registration number 1950,1111,0.23. Auction comparison: Compare a related six-fold screen depicting the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani from the Tale of the Heike, Edo period, late 17th century, 89 x 265 cm, at Christie’s South Kensington, The Japanese Aesthetic, 15 May 2013, lot 295 (sold for GBP 11,250 or approx. EUR 16,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).