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a wooden vase with a design on it on a white surface
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Estimate €2,300 - €2,800
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Description
Masho Untitled Calligrapher’s wrist rest (wanchin) carved with three skulls against a Musashino landscape Bamboo Taishō–Shōwa period, c. 1920–1940 H21 L5 P1.5 cm Signed: Masho saku (made by Masho). Inscription on the work in Romanji: “Edasumi ya, mukashi no hana no, na wa nan to” [What is the name of the tree from which this piece of charcoal comes, and what flower bloomed on that tree?]. Edazumi is a ‘branch charcoal’, used as a firelighter for sumi charcoal in a tea ceremony. It consists of a small, charred branch of oak, azalea or camellia, painted white with lime. Artist: Masho Wanchin Calligraphy wrist rest, decorated with three skulls on the Musashino Plain Japan Taishō–Shōwa periods, first half of the 20th century Carved and engraved bamboo 21 × 5 × 1.5 cm Signed Masho saku ‘Made by Masho’ The convex surface of a section of bamboo is transformed here into a miniature landscape. In the lower part, three skulls appear half-buried amongst tall grasses, whilst a few slender stalks occupy the right-hand side of the composition. The restraint of the design, leaving much of the bamboo’s surface untouched, emphasises the tranquil and meditative nature of the scene. The landscape is that of Musashino, a vast plain situated to the west of Edo (now Tokyo), celebrated in Japanese poetry since ancient times. Mentioned notably in the Man’yōshū and the Tales of Ise, over the centuries it has become an almost idealised literary landscape, characterised by the vastness of its fields, its autumn grasses and, frequently, the moon appearing very low on the horizon due to the absence of high mountains. This theme was particularly favoured by Yamato-e painters and became a classic motif in Japanese decorative arts. Superimposed upon this poetic image of Musashino is the much darker image of the nozarashi 野晒し, literally a body or bones ‘exposed to the elements’. The skull abandoned on a deserted plain is part of the Japanese imagery of impermanence and also features in fantastical tales and kaidan. In particular, there are known artefacts from the Edo and Meiji periods that explicitly associate a nozarashi skull with a landscape of Musashino. The three skulls should therefore probably not be interpreted as the protagonists of any particular legend, but rather as a meditation on the transience of all things. Their presence amidst the grass alludes to the Buddhist concept of mujō 無常—the impermanence of all things—but also to a broader Japanese aesthetic in which the beauty of the autumnal landscape and an awareness of death can coexist. This interpretation is further enriched by the inscription carved into the bamboo: Edazumi ya mukashi no hana no na wa nan to which can be rendered as follows: ‘This branch turned to charcoal… what was once the name of the flower it bore? ’ The term edazumi 枝炭 refers to the ‘branch charcoal’ used in the chanoyu. Small charred twigs, traditionally coated in a white substance, are incorporated into the fire arrangement during the tea ceremony. The poem is particularly relevant to the setting. It explores the irreversible transformation of matter. The branch, now reduced to charcoal, was once a living tree bearing flowers, yet even their very name now seems lost. The skulls raise exactly the same question about human existence. Who were these beings of whom only the bones remain? What were their names, their faces, their lives? The connection between the poem and the three skulls thus lends this modest scholar’s artefact an unusual depth. The bamboo, a plant material that was once alive, the branch transformed into charcoal, and the bodies reduced to bones all form part of the same reflection on metamorphosis, the passage of time and the fading of identity.
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About the sale Art Animation VII: Monsters, Villains and Antagonists
Auction location
Auction time 10/18/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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