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Trianon Enchères
205
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JAPAN – Edo period (1603–1868), 18th century
See original version (French)
205
-
JAPAN – Edo period (1603–1868), 18th century
See original version (French)
Estimate €400 - €600
Voluntary lot
Description
JAPAN – Edo period (1603–1868), 18th century
Ink and colours on paper, depicting Ainu people trapping a bear between two tree trunks.
(Small holes, foxing, stains). Dimensions: 27.8 x 65.5 cm
Framed with glass
Among the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan (Hokkaidō), the brown bear occupies a
central place in cosmology: regarded as a deity (kamuy) who has
temporarily to earth in animal form to provide humans with its flesh and fur; it
is the object of profound ritual respect. This relationship finds its most
emblematic expression in the Iomante, the ceremony of ‘sending the bear back’, during which a bear cub
raised for several years within the village is sacrificed so that its spirit may return to the gods, bearing offerings intended to demonstrate the hospitality of humankind.
Bear hunting, an activity essential to survival but also one of great symbolic significance, involved specific, sometimes perilous techniques, such as capturing the animal using traps or by driving it between tree trunks arranged in an enclosure, as suggested by the scene depicted here. These images, documented in particular by Japanese painters and travellers who came into contact with the Ainu communities in the north of the archipelago, bear witness both to ancestral hunting expertise and to the unique spiritual bond uniting this people with the bear, a guardian figure in their religious world.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
The Collection of a Naval Architect and General Collector: Asian Art, Jewellery, Furniture, Works of Art, Militaria, Silverware
Auction location
Auction time
09/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
Lot description modified on 09/09/2026 at 4:24 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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