JAPAN.

£20,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Moko shurai e-kotoba ("Illustrated Account of the Mongol Invasion"). A late 18th-century manuscript copy of one of the first depictions of the Mongol invasions of Japan. The original scrolls were commissioned by Takezaki Suenaga in the 13th century to record his wartime heroics and are held in the Tokyo Imperial Palace. This example was made soon after the scrolls resurfaced and became a sensation in the capital.Takezaki (1246-1314) fought the Mongol Empire at the battles of Bun'ei and Koan, where the Japanese managed to overwhelm the enemy due to a surprise storm. After the war his achievements were not rewarded by the shogun, so he personally travelled to Kamakura to petition for recognition. He was successful and then commissioned two scrolls in 1293 to record his deeds for posterity.These scrolls were passed through his descendants with modifications made by unknown artists, most notably the insertion of three extra Mongols coming under fire from a cannonball. According to legend the scrolls were once even dropped into the sea, suffering extensive damage. In 1793 the scrolls were taken to Edo, then repaired in 1797 and widely copied, with as many as 40 examples recorded. This is a copy of the first scroll, depicting the Battle of Bun'ei. The text is the same as other copies we have examined but is broken up by the illustrations at unusual intervals. It can be dated to the first 30 years of the 19th century, as it contains the illustration of the three Mongols but does not

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