Live Auction 2426Japanese & Korean Art
A bronze Christian Icon (fumi-e)
Lot 835

A bronze Christian Icon (fumi-e)

Closed23 March 2011

Price Realised

USD 27,500

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A bronze Christian Icon (fumi-e)
The fumi-e of rounded rectangular shape cast with Christ on the cross from which sprout newly blooming branches; pierced with circular suspension holes at the corners and mounted on wood plaque
3 7/8 x 2 7/8in. (9.8 x 7.3cm.); wood mount 7¼ x 4½in. (18.4 x 11.4cm.)

Specialist note

In 1633, after Catholics were expelled from Japan, the Tokugawa government initiated a ceremony using fumi-e (literally "foot-treading picture"). Bronze and brass plaquettes were placed on the ground and citizens of Nagasaki were forced to walk upon them as a symbol of their abjuration of Christianity.