SHIBATA ZESHIN 柴田是真 (1807–1891) URUSHI-E (LACQUER PAINTING) OF A FARMER'S HOUSE 農家図漆絵額Meiji era (1868–1912), dated 1888An urushi-e painting depicting a peaceful scene of a farmer's rustic dwelling, well maintained but showing its age, in early spring: to the right a straw hat and mino (raincoat) hanging on the wall of the house by a tree and a ragged sudare (roller blind) hung from the eaves; sheaves of rice straw leaning against the walls, and in front a rooster and hen pecking grains of rice from a rice-mortar standing on a straw mat; the inside of the house with details including smoke rising from the hearth with its jizai (adjustable pot hanger), cups in a basket, a pair of zōri (straw sandals), a bunch of daikon radishes, a sickle, a stone grinding-mill, and an uchiwa (non-folding fan); to the left, two children, one barefoot and one wearing zōri, feeding hay to the family ox, a spider's web above its head; in the foreground, a stream with a plank bridge and timber reinforcements; all executed in a range of urushi-e colours, the smaller child's kimono with fine shell decoration and the plum blossoms in silver foil; parts of the paper decorated with gold dust; signed at lower right Gyōnen hachijūni-ō Zeshin 行年八十二翁是真 (Zeshin, aged 82) with a seal Tairyūkyo 對柳居Overall: 61.1cm x 81.4cm (24in x 31⅞in)Image: 47.5cm × 67.9cm (18¾in × 26¾in)With cloth-bound storage box (2)Provenance:Grace Tsumugi Fine Art London, 2015, cat. no. 4Exhibited:Nihon Bijutsu Kyōkai (Japan Art Association), 1888Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum), 2012Published:Gōke 1974, pl. 7Gōke 1981a, pl. 140Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum) 2012, cat. no. 122注脚This ambitious urushi-e painting shares features with other works by Zeshin that reflect his penchant for depicting rustic buildings; parts of the composition also echo the lacquer panel offered as lot 14 which has some strikingly similar features including the overall placing of the house and the outlines of the walls and roof eaves. Zeshin here makes a special effort to use urushi (liquid lacquer) to imitate oil paints, applying it in a wide variety of thicknesses and textures, from the deft strokes of the grasses in the foreground to the thick impasto of the thatched roof.This painting was exhibited in 1888 at the Nihon Bijutsu Kyōkai (Japanese Art Association), winning a silver medal for its 'remarkable technique'.