Nakahara Nantembo (1839-1925)


One-Stroke Daruma with Zen InscriptionTaisho (1912-1926) era, circa 1920Hanging scroll, ink on paper in silk mounts, depicting the outline of Daruma, founder of Zen Buddhism, seated in meditation before a wall, beneath an inscription Menpeki no soshi no sugata wa Yamashiro no Yawata no hata no uri ka nasubi ka (When he faced the wall, did our founder not look just like a melon or an eggplant growing in the Yawata fields of Yamashiro?); signed Hachijuichi-o Nantenbo Toju (Nantenbo Toju, aged 81); sealed at the beginning and end of the inscription Nantenbo, Hakugaikutsu and Toju; sealed within the painting with a skull-shaped seal and another reading Toju 50 x 11 5/8in (127 x 29.5cm)