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attr. to Totoya HOKKEI (1780 - 1850)

from: Jinbutsu sansui kacho Hokkei sensei gazu ('Pictures by the master Hokkei - landscapes, figures, birds and flowers') - Minamoto no Yorimitsu and the Ground Spider -

Black ink (sumi) and watercolors on thin paper. From the sketchbook. Size:                          c. 26. 2 x 37 cms (10 1/4" x 14 5/8") Date:                          most likely 1820s-30s Condition: very good; part of the album backing is missing, so that the center of the sheet now only consists of the actual, thin drawing paper; this does, in no way, effect the actual drawing. ref. no.: # 595029 Price:  € 1,850.00

Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021), popularly known as RAIKO was a nobleman at the court of Emperor Murakami. He is credited with ridding Kyoto of the demons that appear to have been more numerous than usual around the capital during the tenth century. One of Raiko's more famous adventures is recounted in the Noh play, Tsuchigumo, or Ground Spider. The scene depicted here shows the spider trying to attack Yorimitsu who was suffering from fever, at night. The encounter has been depicted in woodblock prints by Kuniyoshi and Yoshitoshi, a.o.; - the best known certainly is a print from the series New Forms of Thirty-six Ghosts by Yoshitoshi, published by Sasaki Toyokichi between 1889 and 1992 (see ill. at right). This masterly watercolor drawing which shows the typical, stylistsic elements of the Katsushika (Hokusai) drawing school is most likely - (some say: "beyond any reasonable doubt") - the work of Totoya HOKKEI, who was one of Hokusai's talented and prolific students. He excelled in the field of surimono (a sample of which is currently shown in the a surimono section of our web gallery), designed numerous illustrated books, and collaborated on early volumes of Hokusai manga. Another design from the same sktechbook is Fishmongers in the rain, shown in this gallery section, as well.

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