徳川 義宜
Tokugawa Yoshinori
The 16th Lord of Owari
"故旧不遺"
Edo Period Hanging Scroll by the Head of the Owari Tokugawa Family
5th year of Ansei (1858) - 8th year of Meiji (1875)
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, satin cloth, kiri-bako
Paper dimensions: 29.3 cm x 152.2 cm
Overall dimensions: 44.2 cm (body width) x 189.5 cm
Yoshinori was the 3rd son of Tokugawa Yoshikatsu who was the 14th lord of Owari Tokugawa (Owari Han). Yoshinori's childhood name was Motochiyo. Tokugawa Mochinaga is the younger brother of Yoshikatsu and he succeeded his older brother and became the 15th lord of Owari Tokugawa. However, he had no son of his own therefore he adopted his older brother's (Yoshikatsu) 3rd son (Yoshinori) to be his son. Mochinaga went into temporary retirement in 1864 and Yoshinori, at age 6, became the 16th and the last lord of the Owari Han. He died at age 18 in 1875. This is a calligraphy by the hand of Tokugawa Yoshinori. The level of skill and refinement of this calligraphy is testimony to the exceptional nature of Yoshinori. The work shows fully that classic art training was hyper-focused on the young leader.
The meaning of this work comes from classic Confucianism. "故旧不遺" can be pronounced "Gujiu bu yi" and taken literally to mean "Keep the Old". But the intent is much deeper than that. From teaching: The Master said: "Courtesy without the rites of propriety becomes annoyance. Caution without the rites of propriety becomes bashfulness. Audacity without the rites of propriety becomes foolhardiness. Straightforwardness without the rites of propriety becomes bluntness. If the ruler is benevolent to his relatives, the people will pursue true virtue. If he does not neglect his old friends, the people will value friendship." The kanji here are shown bold in the lesson below. The meaning of this is to not forget our old friends, to not forget who supported us and where we came from. It's a wonderful sentiment on many levels of one's life.
The full line from Confucian text: [8- 2]
子曰： ＂恭而无礼则劳；慎而无礼则偲，勇而无礼则乱，直而无礼则绞，君子笃於亲，則民興於仁，故旧不遺，则民不喻
This is wonderful work to display in a sword room. It takes up the space of a full wall from top to bottom. The collector of Owari Shinto master works and top-shelf Owari Tsuba should feel a special alure of this calligraphy. The Tokugawa mons on the border of the frame highlight the heritage of the work. The mon appears on both the top and bottom of the artwork itself and it was cut from one piece of the mon fabric. It is called ichimonji (top) and ichimonji (bottom). This work is over 150 years old. There are some small folds in the paper and some minor signs of age. Comes with an antique kiri-bako.
$1900
