TOSA MITSUSADA (1738-1806) Tatebina DollsEdo period (1615-1868), circa 1800
Kakejiku (hanging scroll), ink and colours on paper in modern silk mounts incorporating parts of an Edo-period kimono, depicting two tatebina dolls, an emperor and a smaller empress beneath an inscription by Hino Sukeki, the inscription signed Juichii Sukeki, the painting signed Edokoro Azukari Tosa Mitsusada (Tosa Mitsusada, Head of the Imperial Painting Bureau) and sealed Mitsusada no in (Seal of Mitsusada); with a wooden tomobako storage box inscribed outside Tatebina Hino Sukeki san Tosa Mitsusada ga (Tatebina Dolls, inscription by Hino Sukeki, painting by Tosa Mitsusada. Overall: 154cm x 46.5cm (61 5/8in x 18 5/8in); image: 81.5cm x 26cm (32in x 10¼in). (2).注脚Hino Sukeki (1737-1801) was a leading imperial palace courtier and poet who attained the senior rank of Juichii (as indicated on the inscription to this painting) some time after 1785. His inscriptions are found on many paintings by Kyoto artists active in the mid-Edo period, including—in addition to Tosa Mitsusada—such leading names as Maruyama Okyo, Nagasawa Rosetsu, Komai Genki and Kishi Ganku; see Tashiro Kazuha, 'Hino Sukeki no gasan (Painting Inscriptions by Hino Sukeki)', Kinsei bungei, 101 (2015), pp.17-30, note 9, accessible at https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/kinseibungei/101/0/101_17/_pdf/-char/ja