Prints (3)

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1669 Montanus Antique Print Sanjūsangen-dō 三十三間堂 Buddhist Temple Kyoto, Japan

1669 Montanus Antique Print Sanjūsangen-dō 三十三間堂 Buddhist Temple Kyoto, Japan

  • Title  : Temple ou il y a 1000 Idoles: Temple met Duysend Beelden
  • Date  : 1669
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref # :  23413
  • Size   : 14 1/2in x 9in (360mm x 230mm)

Description:
This original copper-plate engraved antique print of Sanjūsangen-dō (三十三間堂) a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama District of Kyoto, Japan (with 1000 Kannon statues) during the Edo period, by Arnoldus Montanus was published in the 1669 edition of Gedenkwaerdige Gesantschappen der Oost-Indische Maetschappy int Vereenigde Nederland, aen de Kaisaren van Japan. Getrokken uit de Geschriften en Reiseaentekeninge der zelver Gesanten (Atlas Japannensis being remarkable addresses by way of Embassy from the East India Company of the United Provinces, to the Emperor of Japan)

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 15in x 12in (380mm x 305mm)
Plate size: - 13in x 10in (330mm x 255mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (20mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Sanjūsangen-dō (三十三間堂, lit. thirty-three ken (length) hall) is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama District of Kyoto, Japan. Officially known as Rengeō-in (蓮華王院), or Hall of the Lotus King, Sanjūsangen-dō belongs to and is run by the Myōhō-in temple, a part of the Tendai school of Buddhism. The temple name literally means Hall with thirty three spaces between columns, describing the architecture of the long main hall of the temple.
Taira no Kiyomori completed the temple under order of Emperor Go-Shirakawa in 1164. The temple complex suffered a fire in 1249 and only the main hall was rebuilt in 1266. In January, the temple has an event known as the Rite of the Willow (柳枝のお加持), where worshippers are touched on the head with a sacred willow branch to cure and prevent headaches. A popular archery tournament known as the Tōshiya (通し矢) has also been held here, beside the West veranda, since the Edo period. The duel between the famous warrior Miyamoto Musashi and Yoshioka Denshichirō, leader of the Yoshioka-ryū, is popularly believed to have been fought just outside Sanjūsangen-dō in 1604.
The main deity of the temple is Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokiteśvara or the Thousand Armed Kannon. The statue of the main deity was created by the Kamakura sculptor Tankei and is a National Treasure of Japan. The temple also contains one thousand life-size statues of the Thousand Armed Kannon which stand on both the right and left sides of the main statue in 10 rows and 50 columns. Of these, 124 statues are from the original temple, rescued from the fire of 1249, while the remaining 876 statues were constructed in the 13th century. The statues are made of Japanese cypress clad in gold leaf. The temple is 120 - meter long[1]. Around the 1000 Kannon statues stand 28 statues of guardian deities. There are also two famous statues of Fūjin and Raijin.

$190.00 USD
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1669 Arnoldus Montanus Large Antique Print of a Japanese Marriage Ceremony 結婚式

1669 Arnoldus Montanus Large Antique Print of a Japanese Marriage Ceremony 結婚式

  • Title  : Ceremonies du Mariage
  • Date  : 1669
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref # :  23411-1
  • Size   : 14 1/2in x 9in (360mm x 230mm)

Description:
This original copper-plate engraved antique print of a Japanese Marriage Ceremony during the early Edo period of Japanese history, by Arnoldus Montanus was published in the 1669 edition of Gedenkwaerdige Gesantschappen der Oost-Indische Maetschappy int Vereenigde Nederland, aen de Kaisaren van Japan. Getrokken uit de Geschriften en Reiseaentekeninge der zelver Gesanten (Atlas Japannensis being remarkable addresses by way of Embassy from the East India Company of the United Provinces, to the Emperor of Japan)

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 15in x 12in (380mm x 305mm)
Plate size: - 13in x 10in (330mm x 255mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (20mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Marriage in the Edo period (1600–1868)
In pre-modern Japan, marriage was inextricable from the ie (家, family or household), the basic unit of society with a collective continuity independent of any individual life. Members of the household were expected to subordinate all their own interests to that of the ie, with respect for an ideal of filial piety and social hierarchy that borrowed much from Confucianism. The choice to remain single was the greatest crime a man could commit, according to Baron Hozumi.
Marriages were duly arranged by the head of the household, who represented it publicly and was legally responsible for its members, and any preference by either principal in a marital arrangement was considered improper. Property was regarded to belong to the ie rather than to individuals, and inheritance was strictly agnatic primogeniture. A woman (女) married the household (家) of her husband, hence the logograms for yome (嫁, wife) and yomeiri (嫁入り, marriage, lit. wife entering).
In the absence of sons, some households would adopt a male heir (養子, or yōshi) to maintain the dynasty, a practice which continues in corporate Japan. Nearly all adoptions are of adult men. Marriage was restricted to households of equal social standing (分限), which made selection a crucial, painstaking process. Although Confucian ethics encouraged people to marry outside their own group, limiting the search to a local community remained the easiest way to ensure an honorable match. Approximately one-in-five marriages in pre-modern Japan occurred between households that were already related.
Outcast communities such as the Burakumin could not marry outside of their caste, and marriage discrimination continued even after an 1871 edict abolished the caste system, well into the twentieth century. Marriage between a Japanese and non-Japanese person was not officially permitted until 14 March 1873, a date now commemorated as White Day. Marriage with a foreigner required the Japanese national to surrender his or her social standing.
The purposes of marriage in the medieval and Edo periods was to form alliances between families, to relieve the family of its female dependents, to perpetuate the family line, and, especially for the lower classes, to add new members to the family\'s workforce. The seventeenth-century treatise Onna Daigaku (Greater Learning for Women) instructed wives honor their parents-in-law before their own parents, and to be courteous, humble, and conciliatory towards their husbands.
Husbands were also encouraged to place the needs of their parents and children before those of their wives. One British observer remarked, If you love your wife you spoil your mother\'s servant. The tension between a housewife and her mother-in-law has been a keynote of Japanese drama ever since.
Romantic love (愛情, aijō) played little part in medieval marriages, as emotional attachment was considered inconsistent with filial piety. A proverb said, Those who come together in passion stay together in tears. For men, sexual gratification was seen as separate from conjugal relations with ones wife, where the purpose was procreation. The genre called Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, lit. floating world pictures) celebrated the luxury and hedonism of the era, typically with depictions of beautiful courtesans and geisha of the pleasure districts. Concubinage and prostitution were common, public, relatively respectable, until the social upheaval of the Meiji Restoration put an end to feudal society in Japan.

$190.00 USD
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1818 C J McLeod Antique Print of Chief & Attendants of Ryukyu Isles of Japan

1818 C J McLeod Antique Print of Chief & Attendants of Ryukyu Isles of Japan

Description:
This fine original antique hand coloured and pen ink outline drawing of a Chief and Attendants of the Japanese Island of Lew Chew or Ryukyu Islands was drawn by an artist signing his name as C.J. from the exquisite hand coloured prints by the surgeon John McLeod, published in the 1818 edition of Voyage of His Majesty's Ship Alceste.

Voyage of His Majesty's Ship Alceste, Along the Coast of Corea to the Island of Lewchew; with an Account of Her Subsequent Shipwreck, London, John Murray, printed by W. Clowes, 1818. The book is of the expedition (February 1816 - August 1817) of the British Naval ships the Alceste and the Lyra under the command of Captain Murray Maxwell to transport the Lord Amherst's Embassy to China and explore the relatively little known East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. The book contained extensive sections on visits to China, Korea, Lew Chew and St Helena. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy & stable
Paper color: - White
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: -Blue, yellow, red, purple  
General color appearance: -  Fresh
Paper size: - 10in x 7 1/2in (255mm x 190mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (10mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Very light toning
Verso: - Old glue residue on back margins not affecting the image

$150.00 USD
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