| Antique
Popping Eyes Trick Netsuke
Tadamori
To Catch An Oil Thief
Signature:
Gyokuichi, Circa: early 20th century
Recorded in: Netsuke, A Comprehensive Study Based on
the M.T. Hindson
Collection by Neil K. Davey, #403
H 2.25
in.(5.5cm.), W 2in.(5cm.), D 1 in.(2.5cm.)
Condition: Excellent! TAIRA
NO TADAMORI. Shows the episode where he grapples at night with a demon illuminated
with flickering light only to find that he has caught an innocent old temple servant
replenishing the oil lamps.
Private Collection
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Terrific
design of Taira no Tadamori catching a thief in the act as he steals a jar of
oil from the stone lanterns at a temple. The warrior, who served the Emperor Go-Shirakawa,
had been charged by his master to capture a demon figure lurking around the temple,
which when seen in silhouette, had a spiky head and seemed to breath fire. Watching
carefully, Tadamori discovered it to be only a vagrant monk, whose tattered straw
hat gave the illusion of spikes, carrying a covered flame. Tadamori crouches behind
the pine trees, ready to draw his sword as the monk shambles past. Rain falls
across the night scene, adding to the dark atmosphere. A fantastic illustration
of this famous tale, which earned Tadamori a reward from the emperor for his bravery
and common sense. Beautifully drawn with delicate cloth embossing in the white
under robe. Taira
no Tadamori (1096-1153) served the Emperor Go-Shirakawa. One night, as the Emperor
was on his way to
| visit
his favourite consort, he and his retinue were disconcerted to see in the gloom
a shining figure with spikes growing out of its head, standing beside a chapel.
Fearing a demon, the Emperor ordered Tadamori, a lowly escort, to kill it. As
he approached the demon-figure, Tadamori began to think it looked somewhat less
threatening, and resolved to capture it alive. It turned out to be the agéd monk
who was charged with keeping the oil lamps lit, carryin a jug of oil, a covered
flame, and wearing a straw head-cover off of which the flame had been reflected.
As a reward for his bravery and good sense, Tadamori was given the Emperor's consort
as a wife. She was already pregnant by Shirakawa, and Tadamori adopted the royal
bastard as his own son, naming him Kiyomori. Although the latter story may or
may not be true, it would have appealled to the populace as an explanation of
Kiyomori's lifelong meglomaniacal ambitions and the inability of the Imperial
House to control him (see below).
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