Kakemono 33 Tempel

One of a kind — this work exists only once.

Period:
Shôwa (1926–1989)
Dimensions (height x width):
200 x 60 cm
Item number:
4753

This piece has been sold.

Sold – no longer available

This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.

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Details about the sold piece

  • JikusakiMetal
  • Material HonshiSilk
  • MotifBuddhism and Zen
  • TechniqueHand-Painted

Description

This unusual hanging scroll documents a Buddhist pilgrimage to 33 Temples and gathers on silk the red temple seals and calligraphic temple names that pilgrims collected from station to station along their way – a custom that remains alive in Japan to this day and was regarded as testimony to personal piety.

Dozens of temple names in powerful handwriting, each accompanied by square and round seal impressions in luminous vermilion, condense into an impressive pattern of script and color. At the center of the sheet, a larger invocation of the Bodhisattva Kannon recalls the spiritual significance of the entire route, while the small-scale stamps make the pilgrim's long, arduous journey tangible.

The sheet is mounted on fine blue-silver brocade silk with a peony pattern, the upper border kept in warm yellow, the jikusaki is made of metal. This rare testimony to Japanese pilgrimage culture was created in the Shôwa period. For collectors with an interest in religious folk art and calligraphy, this hanging scroll is an extraordinary, deeply personal document of lived piety.

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