Kano Tessai (1845-1925)A panel with three miniature masksTaisho era (1912-1926), dated 1924The sugi panel mounted with three carved, gold-lacquered, and painted miniature copies of early masks preserved in shrines and other buildings in Nara, extensively inscribed as follows: top, Koshu kokuho gigakumen sanjuikko no ichi (An A-grade national treasure gigaku mask, one of 31); center, Shosoin gyobutsu doji-men (Mask of a boy attendant, an imperial treasure of the Shosoin Repository); lower right, Himuro Jinja homotsu Taisho kinoe-ne toshi shigatsu kasshi no hi Nanto Koyodai Saishoseisha Maka-an Tessai shiki (A treasure of the Himuro Shrine, recorded by Tessai of the Maha Retreat at the Studio of Supreme Precision on the Maple Foliage Terrace in the Southern Capital [Nara] on a kasshi day in April 1924), with a square red seal and Tessai's idiosyncratic kao (cursive monogram)注脚Born in Gifu, Kano Tessai studied painting and sculpture under his father (a netsuke carver) and after moving up to Tokyo in 1872 rose to fame when he was commissioned to make a stationery set for Okubo Toshimichi, one of the leaders of the Meiji Restoration; he also enjoyed the support of Sano Jomin (Tsunetami), an influential figure in the early-Meiji art world. In 1882 he relocated to Nara—Japan's capital from 710 to 794—and embarked on a project to study and copy early masterpieces of Japanese art; many of the fruits of that projects are included in the Lewis Collection. Tessai is even said to have helped Ernest Fenollosa and Okakura Tenshin with their surveys of classic temple art in Kyoto and Nara, but he otherwise tried to avoid too much involvement in public life and devoted only a short time to teaching at Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko (Tokyo Art School) in 1888-9. Tessai first used the studio name Saishoseisha, as on the present lot, in winter of 1919, see Gifu-shi Rekishi Hakubutsukan (Gifu City Museum of History), Kano Tessai: Shirarezaru meiko (Kano Tessai: An Undiscovered Master), exhibition catalogue, June 6–July 27, 2003, Gifu City: Chūnichi Shinbunsha, 2003, p.14.