FR EN
1 / 5
a drawing of a man with yellow eyes standing in front of a white backgroundpainting of a man and a woman swimming in a body of wateran image of a drawing of a man with a dragon on his backan oriental painting of a monkey with yellow eyes on a beige backgroundan image of a painting of a man with a white robe and a red nose
TAJAN

Estimate €600 - €800
Sale commission
Description
ANONYMOUS A long, colourfully painted makimono on paper, depicting around forty yōkai (malevolent supernatural beings associated with fear), with no title or colophon. It features the thirty best-known yōkai, such as: Mikoshi nyūdō, the bald yōkai monk with an extendable neck; Yuki onna, the Snow Woman; Nopperabô, the yôkai with a face lacking eyes, a nose and a mouth; Yamauba, the mountain witch; Nokitsune, the fox; Rokurokubi, the woman with the disproportionately long neck; Yamabiko, the ‘mountain echo’; Gagoze, the yōkai of Gangōji Temple; Nuribotoke, the corpse with blackened skin and hanging eyeballs; Kamikiri, the ‘hair-cutter’, etc. At the end of the scroll are depicted around ten unlabelled, less common yōkai, some of which appear to have sprung from the artist’s imagination. (Folds; one end is missing). Japan, 19th century. A LONG MAKIMONO DEPICTING A SERIES OF YÔKAI, COLOURS ON PAPER, UNSIGNED, JAPAN, 19TH CENTURY. DIM. 1365 X 22 CM (537 3/8 X 8 11/16 IN.) Note The Hyakki yagyô, ‘The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons’, has its origins in a superstition dating back to the Heian period. Every year, during the summer nights, a motley crew of yôkai would take to the streets. Anyone who crossed paths with this procession risked death unless protected by a sutra. This theme enjoyed great popularity over the centuries, and was depicted by many renowned artists. From the early 19th century onwards, numerous anonymous scrolls featuring series of yōkai began to appear, generally comprising around thirty individual figures, each independent of the others and without any background decoration, as on this scroll. In these popular, naively rendered variations, the humorous aspect takes precedence over the frightening one.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale THE BERNARD ROUSSEAU COLLECTION – DRAWINGS BY HOKUSAI, PAINTINGS FROM JAPAN AND CHINA
Auction location
Auction time 10/22/2026 at 3:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like