Album with scenes of the Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness)

59 painted illustrations remounted on a leather-bound volume decorated with gilded debossing and marbled paper guards. Few illustrations have been identified as scenes from Tsurezuregusa, a work of classical literature by Yoshida Kenkō.

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Historical period(s)
Edo period and Meiji era, paintings, mid-17th; binding, late-19th century
Medium
Ink, colors and silver on paper, leather
Dimensions
H x W x D: 33 × 26.2 × 3.5 cm (13 × 10 5/16 × 1 3/8 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of Alan Kennedy
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F2019.1.1
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Album

Keywords
Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, Meiji era (1868 - 1912)
Provenance

To 2012
Joseph von Dressel, Jr. (b. 1927) and Maria Theresa von Wimpffen (b. 1929), Chicago [1]

2012
Sale, Chicago, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, "Asian Works of Art," March 29, 2012, lot. 826A: "A Japanese Album of Sixty Paintings" [2]

From 2012 to 2019
Alan Kennedy, Santa Monica, California, purchased at auction "Asian Works of Art," Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, Chicago, March 29, 2012, lot no. 826A, "A Japanese Album of Sixty Paintings" [3]

From 2019
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Alan Kennedy, Santa Monica, California [4]

Notes:

[1] Joseph von Dressel also known as Joseph Drossel-Dressel, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1927. Maria Theresa von Wimpffen also known as Maria Theresia Wimpffen and, as Maria Theresia Drossel-Dressel was born in Kainberg Castle in Austria in 1929. She moved to the United States in 1951 and married Joseph von Dressel, Jr. in 1952.

[2] See auction catalogue, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.

[3] Alan Kennedy purchased the album at the Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, sale on March 29, 2012. See Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record. See also the Acquisition Justification Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

[4] See Deed of Gift, object file, Collections Management Office.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Alan Kennedy
Joseph D. Dressel Jr.
Imperial Countess Maria Theresa von Wimpffen

Description

59 painted illustrations remounted on a leather-bound volume decorated with gilded debossing and marbled paper guards. Few illustrations have been identified as scenes from Tsurezuregusa, a work of classical literature by Yoshida Kenkō.

Inscription(s)

The spine is embossed with the title "Chinese Drawings". The inside (blank side) of the front fly leaf has a pencil inscription in the upper left corner - "109406/6" - and is stamped in black "Bound By Riviere" in a very small font in the lower left corner.

Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
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