Teppo densho me-ate jo [Target practice scroll]

£2,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A marvellous handscroll depicting ambitious targets for hitting animals, fish, humans (and even insects!) with a bow and arrow. The Inatomi School was founded by Inatomi Sukenao (1552-1611, also read as Ina dome ) as one of the first places in Japan to teach advanced gunnery. Scrolls on this subject, showing how to hold and fire muskets, can be found in the Kyushu National Museum (objects P15002 and P14968). The present scroll focuses on archery, with detailed drawings showing exactly where to hit each target. Though it has not been digitised, a similarly titled scroll appears in the collections of the Reikihaku (object H-1411-11-247). Provenance: We find at the end of this scroll that it was passed down through several generations. It appears to have been first gifted in 1775 from Tamura Kishichiro to Otsuki Jurodayu Yasuhiro. In searches of these two names, they are likely a father and son from a noble family in Sendai. The second inscription notes that it was gifted from Fujima Buzaemon to Fujima Yusen in 1802 – they are also likely to be a father and son duo.

• Binding: Hardcover

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