Jugyu-zu. [Ten Bull Pictures].

£8,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

The canon of the ‘Ten Bull Pictures’ [aka. Oxherding Pictures] goes back to China’s Song Dynasty (11th century). It is a charming parable about the process of enlightenment that was developed in the Chan [jap. Zen] Buddhist tradition. This parable became particularly popular in Japan where it was painted again and again for the instructions of monks and the enjoyment of the laity. The present version is signed by two brothers of the renowned Kano family, Kano Chikanobu (1660-1728) and Kano Minenobu (1662-1709), both of them sons of the Kano Tsunenobu (1636-1713). According to the text on the box, each accompanying poem is written by a different monk from Kyoto’s Nanzenji Temple. Thus, the ten paintings and the ten poems are written on different sheets of paper but mounted as a scroll. We have not been able to identify any of the monks who contributed and it is possible that the scroll was copied in the late 18th or early 19th century. The ten chapters follow the arrangement that was established in the Song dynasty: 1. Searching for the bull; 2 Seeing a trace; 3 Seeing the bull; 4 Catching the bull; 5. Taming the bull; 6. Riding the bull; 7. Forgetting the bull, self remains; 8. Forgetting self and the bull; 9. Returning to the origin; 10. Entering the market place with arms hanging down. Various versions of the poems exist. The present follows the most popular version by the 12th century Song monk Kuoan Shiyuan (jap. Kakuan Shien). The first poem translates as follows: “One a

• Year: 1800

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