Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 (1807–1891) 12 TANZAKU PAINTINGS OF THE 12 MONTHS 十二ヶ月短冊揃

Meiji era (1868–1912), circa 1884

Meiji era (1868–1912), circa 1884
A set of 12 tanzaku (tall vertical poem-cards) with gold-painted edges, the reverses with flecks of gold, the cards painted in ink and colours as follows:

First Month
An itomari or temari (silk thread ball) and hane (shuttlecock). Itomari or temari and hane were a favourite children's gift at New Year. For a different version of this tanzaku subject also from the Misumi Collection, see our catalogue The Misumi Collection: Important Works of Lacquer Art and Painting: Part 1, 5 November 2014, lot no. 8.

Second Month
A banner inscribed Shōichi-i Inari Daimyō[jin] 正一位稲荷大明[神] (Top-Ranking Great Deity Inari), partially obscured by a branch of flowering plum. The Inari Festival was held on the first horse day of the second month and Zeshin used this motif again, not only in a closely related set of tanzaku in the Khalili Collection discussed below but also in the second-month inrō from the celebrated set of 12 in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. W.302-1922).

Third Month
Tsukushi (horsetail, Equisetum arvense), rushes, and cherry-blossom petals

Fourth Month
The head of one and the tail of another swimming katsuo (bonito, Katsuwonus pelamis). The hatsu-gatsuo (first bonito of the season) is a classic early-summer delicacy.

Fifth Month
A toy sword in a fur scabbard, symbolizing the Boys' Festival held on the fifth day; for an example of a toy sword on a lacquer box in the Khalili Collection, see Earle 1996, cat. no. 4.

Sixth Month
Pilgrims climbing Mount Fuji. This month marks the yamabiraki (opening of the mountain-climbing season) and Zeshin used the same motif on the related Khalili Collection set of tanzaku (see below). He climbed on Mount Fuji himself in 1872.

Seventh Month
Tanzaku (poem cards) hanging from a bamboo plant; they stand for the Tanabata Star Festival held on the seventh day to mark the one time of the year when the Herd Boy (Altair) and the Weaver Girl (Vega), separated on either side of the Milky Way as a punishment for neglecting their duties, are allowed to meet.

Eighth Month
Full moon, mochi (rice cakes) on a stand, with susuki, and kikyō. Rice cakes, shaped like the full moon, are the time-honoured accompaniment to the eight-month custom of moon viewing, while susuki and kikyō are numbered among the canonical aki no nanakusa (seven autumn plants).

Ninth Month
A kuri (sweet chestnut, Castanea crenata) emerging from its spiny burr, with branch and leaves.

Tenth Month
A bamboo fishing rod and float. The tenth month in the lunar calendar was also known as Kaminazuki (Godless Month) because all Japan's deities were summoned to the Grand Shrine at Izumo, with the exception of Ebisu, one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune and a guardian deity of fishermen.

Eleventh Month
A kumade (bamboo rake) with a mask of Ofuku and a label inscribed omamori 御守. Since the Edo period, the Tori-no-Ichi fair has been held in Tokyo's Asakusa district on a tori (rooster) day in the eleventh month. Revellers bring their old kumade charms decorated with masks of Ofuku, Goddess of Mirth, and exchange them for new ones which they take home and use to symbolically 'rake in' wealth and good fortune.

Twelfth Month
A small bird perched on a bamboo snow-shovel.

Sugi-wood (Japanese cypress, Cryptomeria japonica) fitted storage box covered in brownish transparent lacquer and decorated in gold, silver, and coloured takamaki-e, shell, and lead with vine tendrils and leaves.

Each tanzaku signed Zeshin 是真 with seal Reisai 令哉

The box: 38.7 × 8.7 × 3 cm (15¼ × 3 3/8 × 1 1/8 in.)
Each tanzaku: 36.2 × 5.9 cm (14¼ × 2 3/8 in.)


With red paper authentication slip inscribed Zeshin-ō hitsu jūnikagetsu tanzaku mizunoto-tori shunjitsu Kakan'an Chikushin kan 是真翁筆十二ヶ月短冊　癸酉春日可寛菴竹真鑒 (Tanzaku of the twelve months, brushed by the venerable Zeshin, examined by Kakan'an Chikushin on a spring day in the mizunoto-tori year [=1933]) (14)