GARDENS, MINIATURE.

Illustrated scroll on torinoko paper, entitled in manuscript at beginning of text “Bonsan shinpi densho” 盆山真秘傳書 [“Rocks Assembled on a Tray, to Recreate in Miniature a Mountain Garden. Secret, Pass It Down”].

1796. Approx. 40 brush & ink drawings in black & white. Scroll (180 x 1440 mm.), central core roller. At end (in rough trans.): “Many generations of Sōami bonsan 100 rules & styles. Extremely secret. All the information passed down by mouth is listed here. Handle this information with great care and keep it close. Given by Ishioka Seisaku 石岡正朔 in September 1796 to Zuihōken no Yahiroko 瑞芳軒之八尋子.”

Bonsan, miniature mountain gardens, is a sub-category of bonkei 盆景 (tray-garden landscapes). Created to fit into small containers, good bonsan convey the texture, color, and form of natural mountainous scenery. These small tray or pot landscapes have their origins in 10th-century China.

The text in our scroll is a distillation of the teachings of Sōami Shinsō 相阿彌真相 (1472-1525), painter, art critic, and artistic adviser to the Ashikaga shoguns in Kyoto, master of the tea and incense ceremonies, and landscape gardener. He established rules for and a school (Sōami ryu) of garden design and flower arrangement as well as the rules and styles for bonsan. “As a landscape gardener, he designed two of the most celebrated Zen temple gardens in Japan: the Ryōan Temple garden, in Kyoto, an outstanding example of kare sansui, a dry landscape technique in which combinations of stones and sand are used to suggest mountains and water; and the Daisei-in garden, a miniature reproduction of a natural landscape, also in the kare sansui style. It is believed that he also planned the garden of the famed Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku Temple) in Kyoto, the villa built by his major patron, Ashikaga Yoshimasa.”–Encycl. Brit. online.

The author begins by extolling the pleasures of bonsan and offers advice on how to observe and enjoy them. He continues with descriptions of the materials used (miniature trees, sand, rocks, etc.), seasonal variations, the kinds of trays (square, rectangular, circular), and colors (red, white, blue, yellow, brown, and black), and advice on where, how, and when to display them. The text also discusses the styles created over the centuries and famous sites that could be replicated on the trays.

All of this is finely illustrated in a series of about 40 fine black & white brush drawings illustrating the many varieties of bonsan design.

Ishioka was a resident of Kyoto and gave instruction on creating miniature gardens. He left another manuscript on miniature gardening (see WorldCat 1451711637).

In fine condition. Some worming, mostly marginal. Preserved in a modern wooden box.

Price: $4,500.00

Item ID: 10812