figure
- Museum number
- 1885,1227.98
- Description
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Figure. Retired townsman with shaven head, seated and in formal dress, both hands resting on lap. Made of lacquered and painted wood with crystal eyes.
- Production date
- 1675-1725
- Dimensions
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Height: 42.50 centimetres
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Width: 45 centimetres
- Curator's comments
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隠居町人像
Portrait of a retired townsman
The figure gazes out at us with an air of calm. His crystal eyes give him a gently human expression. Many successful townsmen, as they grew older, took Buddhist vows. Like monks they often had their heads shaved, abandoning vanity. Some continued to live busy secular lives, others went into semi-retirement to prepare spiritually for death.
Townspeople believed that by making portraits such as this one, often as a memorial after death, they would preserve the success of their family. In effect the head of the household was still watching over them.
Wood, lacquer, pigment, crystal(eyes), late 1600s-early 1700s
Given by Sir A.W.Franks
(Label copy, 2017)
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A retired townsman
Edo period, late 17th-early 18th century
Wood with lacquer and pigments.
Many ancestral portraits of townsmen, artists, craftsmen and samurai are made sitting formally in the kneeling position. They were kept in a smalll shrine in the home or place of work, and were therefore small. This portrait is made in the "yosegi-zukuri" style which was established in the Kamakura period, with the hollow body formed of a number of pieces sculpted separately and joined together. The eyes are of crystal with painted pupils and backed with white paper inserted from behind the mask. The subject appears to be a prosperous merchant whose hair is shaved probably indicating his retirement and joining the lay priesthood. (Label copy, VH, 1999)
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Zwalf 1985
This realistic portrait is probably of a respectable townsman and merchant who became a Buddhist lay follower while continuing his secular activities. Priestly portraits of such people helped to preserve the integrity of their family and its Buddhist traditions.
- Location
- On display (G93/dc6/sF)
- Exhibition history
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Exhibited:
1997 13 Oct-1998 5 Jan, India, New Delhi, National Museum, The Enduring Image
1998 9 Feb-3 May, India, Mumbai, Sir Caswasjee Jahangir Hall, The Enduring Image
2006 Oct 13-, BM Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from prehistory to the present'
- Acquisition date
- 1885
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1885,1227.98