Pair of Gate Doors
maker
Unknown
Dateearly 18th century
MediumCarved wood with some light green pigment
Dimensions193 x 97.8 cm (76 x 38 1/2 in.) each
ClassificationsArchitectural Elements
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS13w4.1-2
eMuseum ID730016
Original NumberS13w4; S14w4
EmbARK ObjectID43844
Previous NumberS13w4-s; S14w4-s
TMS Source ID21353
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIn the center of the upper panel of each door there is a carving of a plum branch with full-grown blossoms in low relief. The carvings show fine craftsmanship in design and technique suggesting that the doors may once have belonged to the gate of a temple or shrine.
BibliographyNotesLeonard & Co. Catalogue of the Rare Objects in Wood, Pewter and Brass Illustrating the Art of Old Japan to be sold at unrestricted public sale by order of Mr. Bunkio Matsuki (Boston, 9-11 November 1903), p. 16, no. 327a, ill. ("old Buddhist temple in Yamato")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 84. (as Japanese, early 18th century)
Yasuko Horioka et al. Oriental and Islamic Art: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1975), p. 83, no. 55. (as Japanese, early 18th century)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 84. (as Japanese, early 18th century)
Yasuko Horioka et al. Oriental and Islamic Art: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1975), p. 83, no. 55. (as Japanese, early 18th century)
ProvenanceNotesPossibly from Yamato Province, corresponding to the present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū, Japan.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Matsuki sale at Copley Hall, Boston in November 1903 for $210, lot 327a.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Matsuki sale at Copley Hall, Boston in November 1903 for $210, lot 327a.
