Catalog (283)

Travel shrine, or zushi, with sitting figure of Kukai, carved in wood. The founder of the Shingon sect sits on a low pedestal, his shoes put underneath. In his left hand he holds the rosary, in the right he formerly held a vajra. Figure carved in plain wood, the pedestal decorated in gold and the typical red, white, green and blue. The inside of the doors decorated with lotus flowers in dull gold lacquer on shining gold lacquer. On the curtain above a decoration of manji and garlands in the same technique. The outside case in black lacquer with gilt and engraved hard ware. Inside: tip of curtain and vajra missing. Outside: short crack in each of the doors, some traces of usage. Height of case 5 3/8 inches; height of figure 2 3/8 inches.

Large zushi of square shape with double doors. Outside black lacquer and bronze hard ware, finely engraved with meandering flowers, inside gold lacquer. Inside a sculpture of the deity Benten, or Benzaiten, in her appearance with eight arms. In her hands she holds sword, jewel, bow, halberd and wheel. Other attributes are missing. On her head she wears the typical crown with torii, referring to the island of Enoshima, where the big Benten shrine is. Behind the crown on her head, sits Ugajin, the serpent with human head, deity of good fortune. Benten sits on a double lotus base, behind her a small mandorla originally decorated with three flaming jewels, today one is missing. This type of Benten is called Uga Benzaiten. To her sides stand Bishamonten (one arm missing) and Daikoku. Gilt and black lacquered wood partly covered in soot. Crystal eyes. Some old breaks, and repairs (with the original pieces). Some lacquer chips and a few missing parts as described. Crack along Benten's lap (seam between the blocks). Generally good condition. Box with some modern repairs, some lacquer chips, crack in bottom (stable), all damages due to usage. H 21 ½ inches. Japan 18th century.

A similar, 8armed figure, without the presence of Bishamonten and Daikoku, can be found in the catalog 'Sacred Treasures of Mount Koya. The Art of Japanese Shingon Buddhism', Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2002, no. 39.

Small flat Buddhist shrine, constructed as a triptych. When open, the middle section houses Amida Nyorai in raised carving, sitting on a lotus throne under a baldachin and surrounded by clouds. On the left panel Seishi bosatsu with his hands folded in prayer, on the right panel Kannon bosatsu with the lotus in his hands. Both bodhisattva surrounded by clouds as well. Sandalwood with details of garment and baldachin in gold. Background in lapis blue.
The outside decorated in makie: A lotus pond with leaves and flowers in raised gold and silver takamakie and with okibirame. Over the pond clouds and two apsaras, playing the sho and the drum. Hinges in the form of silver butterflies. Japan, Edo period or early Meiji at the latest, 19th century.
Closed: 7.7 x 3.3 x 0.9 inches (12 x 8.5 x 2.3 cm).
Some warping, otherwise fine condition.

Shrines like these were often decorated on the outside by well known lacquer studios. Signatures were often put on the outside bottom of the case. In the 1915 Red Cross Exhibition a similar piece was shown (Sculpture, no. 24, and today included in the British Museum) that was described as carved by Naito Koseki and lacquered by Komatsu. This piece dates from the early 20th century. The quality of the lacquer work is clearly different from the piece here. Naito Koseki was a Buddhist sculptor who was still alive in the 1930s.

Hand shrine, or zushi, in the shape of a lotus bud, carved in two halves. On the inside, on one side the standing figure of Amida Nyorai on a lotus base, his hands in mudra. The other half of the lotus bud is decorated with a mutsume pattern (imitating a triaxial weaving) in kirikane (very thin strips of gold foil). Japan, Edo period, early 19th century.
Very light, soft wood. On the outside red lacquer, covered with leaf gold, that is partly rubbed off again. On the inside much of the carving is decorated with brush applied gold, and kirikane for the background of both halves.
Japan, Edo period, late 18th, early 19th century.
Total height: 4 ½ inch (11.4 cm).
One hand of the Buddha missing, the other glued, lower lip chafed. Few chips and dents at edges, all in all very good condition.

Small shrine with double hinged doors. Inside three sculptures of a female in dancing pose, holding an open fan and two males, sitting in front of the female. The old man at the left hand side holds bells in his right hand, in his left he held something that is missing today. The man on the right hand side held something in his right hand, now missing. Judging the faces they could be Daikoku, Ebisu and Benten. Three figures elaborately carved in plain wood, their bases decorated in color. Japan, Edo period, 19th century.
Height of case: 9 ¼ inches (23.8 cm).
Left hand of left hand figure partly missing, attributes missing, otherwise good condition. Case: Gold lacquer inside chipping and cracking in places, metal door lock missing and replaced

Small shrine, or zushi, in a folkish style. In a simple, square case sits Buddha Shakyamuni with a round object in his hands, possibly a jewel or an alms bowl, carved in soap stone. Shaka sits on a low pedestal. On the inside of the left door a paper label with the inscription … no shaka sonzo (Figure of the … Buddha). Height case 7 inches; height figure 3 ¼ inches. Some traces of usage to the case. Figure in good condition. Case Japanese, figure perhaps Chinese, although style is more Japanese.

Zushi with beautiful hardware on the front; inside the figure of Yakushi Nyorai (medicine Buddha), sitting on a high lotus throne, holding the medicine jar in his left hand and with his right hand making the gesture of picking medical herbs. He is surrounded by 16 rakan, painted onto the inside of the doors (not decals). On the mardorla behind his head two apsara are painted, playing the sho and the flute. High quality carving. Wood decorated in mineral colors and gold. Japan, Edo period, likely late 18th century, perhaps early 19th century at the latest.
H of case ca. 9 ¼ inches.
Painting on the doors a bit darkened, slightly chipping; some lotus petal with tiny chip, otherwise in very good condition.

A Buddhist shrine, made for a temple, containing the 8-armed, weapon-bearing goddess Benten; her head adorned with a gilt bronze crown in the shape of a Shinto gate, decorated with birds, sun and moon, and beads. On the top of her head sits the snake-bodied water deity Ugajin. Behind her head a circular mandorla with three flaming jewels. Benten sits on a double lotus throne, placed on top of a rock formation.
The figure and the lotus dais are made in wood with gilding over red lacquer, with details in gold and black. Eyes are in reverse-painted glass or crystal. The crown, the mandorla, and most of the weapons in gilt metal. The rock formation in polychromed wood over gesso inlaid with semi-precious stones and/or glass. Japan, Edo period, circa 1800.

Shrine measurements: H 20.5 x W 14 x D 11.5 inches

Zushi: one hinge missing the vertical pin, otherwise very good condition. Statue: Damage to one hand and to the foot, some cracks and lacquer chips commensurate to age and use. All in all excellent, original condition.

Benten in the 8-armed appearance (happi Benzaiten) is a defender of Buddhism and protector of the nation. This is her appearance as described in the Sutra of Golden Light. According to the sutra, she is supposed to hold in her hands bow and arrow, sword and ax, spear and pestle, and iron wheel (rin) and rope. In statues, the objects vary and over time, objects related to wealth and well-being came to replace the original ones, such as the wish-granting jewel and the key to the storehouse.
Benzaiten with Ugajin on top of her head is Uga Benzaiten, goddess of wealth and good fortune, mostly connected to Shintoism.
In this zushi, Benten holds sword and wish-granting jewel, arrows and (missing) bow, key and lotus, and pestle and halberd. Her function has started to shift with the needs and the taste of the times, incorporating the two prominent religions in Japan.

Tall zushi or Buddhist temple shrine, housing the wooden figure of the standing Buddha Amida, Buddha of the Western Paradise. Both his hands in mudra. He is standing on a multi-tiered hexagonal base, decorated with flowers. His eyes inset in glass or crystal, which are hardly visible due to old layers of re-lacquering and soot.

The baldachin decorated with double family crest. The zushi (case) has double hinged doors decorated with family crests in gold lacquer, indicating that the shrine was made on order for a family temple.

The inside of the doors decorated with flowering lotus plants in etching or scratch technique. Buddha wood, gilded over black lacquer.

Japan, Edo period, 18th century.
Height of zushi: ca. 18.8 inches (48 cm); height of Amida: ca. 10 inches (25.5 cm).
Traces of usage. Basically good condition.

Small Buddhist shrine, or zushi, containing the figure of the Bodhisattva Kannon Nyoirin in six-armed form, sitting on a lotus base positioned on rocks. Kannon sits in position of royal ease, his head resting on his main right arm. In his other right hands he holds the wish-granting jewel (nyoi hoju) and a rosary of stringed beads. His main left hand rests on the lotus, while the others hold a script and a, now missing, lotus flower. He wears a crown and jewelry on his chest made of gilt metal and beads. Behind his head a halo. Carved wood, stained black with mineral pigments and gold.

Height case 10.5 inches.

Figure: Some minor rubbing and lacquer chips, two tips of lotus petals on dais broken and repaired, fringe of crown on right missing, few fingertips slightly chipped.
Case: minor traces of usage.
Overall condition very good.

Buddhist shrine with sculpture of the bodhisattva Myoken, deity of the Polar Star and of the Big Dipper.
He is dressed in Chinese garment, standing on the back of a kida (a beast that is half turtle, half dragon-snake), holding an enormous sword. Behind his back a nimbus with seven discs, representing the seven stars of the Big Dipper. To the left of the rock base the head of a snake pops out. (Probably a snake was wound ”around” the giant turtle and broke off. When the sword was replaced, the restoring person found the snake head and did not know that the snake head should pop up on the side of the turtle, and not from the rock.)

Japan, Edo period, early 19th century.

Height case: 8.25 inches (21 cm).

Case: Usual wear and tear, on back label with the text: 19th century Japanese lacquer shrine of Buddha. C. 1820.
Figure: Sword replaced, snake broken off from side of dragon-turtle and glued to the wrong spot, traces of glue on back of turtle (excess glue from underneath deity’s feet), crack in head along the seam of the blocks, polychrome pigments curling up and chipping off at places (showing the underlying gesso).
Otherwise good condition.

Small shrine with the sculpture of Kishimojin, the hands folded in prayer. Plain wood with nice patina, the pupils painted black. On the back inscription in black ink. On the right door of the case inscription in black ink: Angyo Kishimosonjin, the name of the temple and the donor. The inscription on the back of the sculpture is partly the same, indicating that sculpture and case came together. Japan, early 19th century.
Height case: 7 in. (17.9 cm).
Case with some obvious traces of usage, hardware slightly bent, nails missing. Sculpture in excellent condition.

Small shrine containing the figure of the sitting 11 headed Kannon, holding a flask in his left hand, his head crowned with the 10 heads of the different Buddhist deities, including Amida. He is sitting on a lotus throne that holds inside the figure of a reclining lion. The back of the zushi has a small moveable segment (now glued shut) that is supposed to reveal something in the base of the Kannon. The doors are decorated with inscribed ihai or ancestral tablets set in a field of autumn flowers and river. Japan, late Edo period, 19th century.
H of case 7 inches.
Traces of usage, mainly on the in- and outside of the case, moveable segment glued.

Buddhist shrine, or zushi. Inside stands Jizo bosatsu, holding a wish-granting jewel (hoju no tama) in his left hand and his staff in the right. Very elaborate wooden carving with thick layers of lacquer on top of which gilding. Unusual face with down cast eyes. Metal staff with moving rings.
Height 11.2 inches (29.2 cm).
Japan, Edo period, 18th century.

Jizo’s right foot and left hand repaired (old), vertical crack from his left shoulder down and from his right armpit down, along the seams in the underlying woodblocks, insides of doors strongly, but smoothly rubbed (perhaps to rub out a dedication/identifying inscription, so that the zushi could be deaccessioned from the temple); the outside of the zushi with clear traces of usage (soot), and missing lacquer due to damp circumstances at the temple.

Large zushi, made on order for a temple, containing a seated group of En no Gyoja, the father of Shugendo, with his two attendants Zenki and Goki inside a cave. En no Gyoja is sitting with a staff in his right hand, and a hand scroll in his left. The two attendants are crouched before him. The green attendant (Goki) holds a ewer and a stick to ring a bell or mokugyo; the red disciple (Goki) holds an axe.
Wood with polychrome and gold color over gesso, eyes reverse-painted glass or crystal, staff of En no Gyoja gilded bronze.

Japan, Edo period, circa 1800

Measurements zushi H 21 x W 13 x D 9.5 inches

Extremely rare subject matter

En no Gyoja was a 7th century mountain ascetic. He is considered to be the father of Shugendo, a sect in which Shinto and pre-Buddhist mountain worship blends with Tantric Buddhist rituals. Physical endurance, such as seclusion, fasting, meditation, engaging in austerity, is seen as the path to Enlightenment. Practitioners are called Shugenja or Shugyosha, and Yamabushi. Amalgamations of Shinto and Buddhism were forbidden at the Meiji restauration and the Shugendo sect was banned in 1872. Its existing places of worship were either transformed to Shinto shrines or became branches of Shingon or Tendai Buddhism.

Nichiren Buddhist shrine containing a sculpture of Kishimojin in demonic appearance, her hands folded in prayer. Kishimojin, or Kishibojin, or Kariteimo, is a complex deity. Originally, she was a demon who stole and killed other people’s children in order to feed her numerous own children. After Buddha Shakyamuni made her see how she made people suffer, she repented and devoted herself to protecting all children. Instead of the flesh of children, she fed her own children pomegranate henceforth.
Women pray to her as the goddess of easy delivery, child rearing, for harmony between husband and wife, love, and for the well-being of the family. Childless women also pray to Kishimojin in the hope of becoming pregnant.

Wood sculpture with beautifully painted details. Eyes inlaid in glass or crystal.
Japan, Edo period, circa 1800.
H of case 12 inches.
Excellent condition. Case doors slightly warped

Very small shrine holding the figure of Dakiniten riding a white (or silver) fox. Dakiniten is worshiped at the Toyokawa Inari temples. The zushi is on the inside encased behind a glass pane, surrounded by painted treasure symbols. These kind of zushi are sold at the temple to the patrons and other visitors. Polychromed wood with abundant gold and silver Japan, dated Taisho 13 (1924).
H of case ca. 4 inches.
Comes with original fitted kiri-wood storage box, inscribed with the receiver’s name (juyo), a Kyoto address, dated Taisho 13, 9th month, 17th day, Toyokawakaku and stamped with a red seal. Excellent condition.

Enpukuzan Toyokawa, Myogonji is a temple dedicated to the eleven headed Kannon and Dakiniten and the fox Inari. It was originally founded in 1441 by Tokai Gieki. Most of these temples were rebuilt in the Meiji era or even later, hence many of the products of these temples are from modern times. Worshipers traditionally are merchants.

Small shrine holding the image of the Buddha Dainichi Nyorai, sitting on a lotus base, before a circular mandorla. Doors decorated on the inside with an exquisitely painted motif of star-shaped flowers. Wood decorated in mineral colors and gold. Very high quality. Thin metal for mandorla and crown. Japan, Edo period, 18th century.
H of case ca. 5 inches.
Most of the crown missing, some traces of usage but all in all in excellent condition.