Passage from Commentary on the Sutra of Golden Light, segment from the limuro-gire

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Emperor Saga (785-842 (reigned 809-823))

• Provenance

  Probably 1870s-no later than 1915

  Reportedly owned by Inoue Kaoru (1836-1915), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1926-no later than 1938

  Masuda Takashi (1848-1938), method of acquisition unknown [2]

  ?-1990

  London Gallery, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, method of acquisition unknown [3]

  1990-2013

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2016) and William Burto (1921-2013) (owned jointly), purchased from London Gallery, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [4]

  2013-2014

  Sylvan Barnet and National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, bequeathed by William Burto to the Smithsonian [5]

  From 2014

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto [6]

  Notes:

  [1] See Christine M.E. Guth, “Art, Tea, and Industry: Masuda Takashi and the Mitsui Circle” [book] (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. xii, 119-120, 214; fig. 4-4. Guth writes that the fragments known as “Iimuro-gire” had “been mounted on screens, but when Inoue Kaoru acquired them early in the Meiji period, he restored them to their original handscroll format. When Masuda purchased the handscrolls in 1926, he altered their format again by cutting them into sections, which he had mounted as handscrolls.” In the Notes section Guth adds: “According to the record of the Daishi kai of 1909, they were in the form of three scrolls. By 1928, when Masuda exhibited them again, there were only two scrolls in his possession.”

  Inoue Kaoru was a nobleman, government official, and art collector. Born into a samurai family in Chōshū, now in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Inoue went to England in 1863 as part of the Chōshu Five, five young men who went to study western technology at University College London. After 1868, Inoue served as minister of public works, public affairs, agriculture and commerce, finance, home affairs, and foreign affairs. Inoue maintained close ties with the Mitsui Company whose director, Masuda Takashi, was greatly influenced by Inoue’s early interest in Buddhist art.

  [2] See note 1. Masuda Takashi was a Japanese nobleman, government official, art collector and tea ceremony enthusiast. He is sometimes referred to as Masuda Don’ō, his tea ceremony name. Born on Sado Island, he was the son of a shogunal official. After the Meiji Restoration, he worked for Walsh, Hall & Co. and Senshū Kaisha, before becoming director of Mitsui Trading Company in 1876. He formally retired in 1913 and was elevated to the rank of Baron in 1918. In 1896, Masuda established an annual tea gathering at his Gotenyama estate following his acquisition of a calligraphic fragment by Kōbō Daishi, and the annual event became known as Daishi Kai. Masuda was a celebrated art collector and man of tea who influenced the activities and taste of many of his contemporaries as well as younger industrialist collectors.

  [3] See object file for copy of London Gallery, Ltd. invoice to Sylvan Barnet and William Burto, dated June 28, 1990, for “Iimurogire.” See also copy of Cambridge Savings Bank Purchaser’s Memorandum dated July 5, 1990, indicating transfer of funds to the Bank of Tokyo account for London Gallery, Ltd. There is a notation in red pen “for Iimurogire.”

  Tajima Mitsuru (born ca. 1936) is a Japanese collector and art dealer who developed the London Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. Opened in the late 20th century, the gallery specializes in art and archaeological material of Asia. In 1963, at the age of twenty-seven, Mitsuru traveled to the United States and joined the collector and dealer Harry Packard on a cross-country trip, visiting museums and collectors, including Avery Brundage.

  [4] See note 3 and object file F2014.6.1-19 “Japan, Heian period, Group of Calligraphies, Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Documents: 2004-2013” for Gift Agreement between the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Signed by the Director on August 9, 2004, and counter-signed by Barnet and Burto August 13, 2004. The object is described as “Commentary on the Sutra of Golden Light, segment from the Iimuro-gire” Additionally, see object file for a copy of the “Will of William Burto,” signed and dated February 14, 2011, Article I, “Executor. I appoint Sylvan Barnet, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to be Executor of this will,” and Article II, “I give my art collection as follows: (1) To the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., all of my right, title and interest, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all copyright and associated rights, in the following works of art,” including “Passage from Commentary on the Sutra of Golden Light, segment from the Iimuro-gire,” described as “att. Emperor Saga (786-842); Segment of a handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper.” See also The William Burto Revocable Trust, signed and dated June 9, 2011.

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2015) and William Burto (1921-2013) were scholars of English literature and collectors of Asian art, focusing on Korean and Japanese works. The two amassed one of the finest private collections of Zen calligraphy, which featured works from the Nara through the Edo periods. As a professor of English literature at Tufts University in the early 1960s, Barnet proposed unique editions of Shakespeare plays, complete with introductions and study aids, to New American Library. The publishing house would produce “The Signet Classic Shakespeare” from 1963 to 1972. Barnet served as general editor as well as providing introductions for several plays, and these popular editions were widely adopted by universities throughout the United States.

  Barnet and Burto purchased their first object, a Korean celadon bowl, in New York in 1963. Just a few years later, they purchased their first calligraphy from Nathan V. Hammer, a work by Jiun Onkō. Following William Burto’s death in 2013, his half of the collection was given to the The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Harvard Art Museums; Metropolitan Museum of Art; and the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, respectively. Before his death in 2016, Sylvan Barnet donated his half of the collection to the same institutions.

  [5] See note 3 and 4, and object file F2014.6.1-19 “Japan, Heian period, Group of Calligraphies, Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. Acquisition papers,” for Deed of Gift signed by Sylvan Barnet September 24, 2014, and counter-signed by the Director October 7, 2014. In the attached object list, it is noted that Barnet is giving the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, his “50% share of ownership of: Passage from Commentary on the Sutra of Golden Light, segment from the Iimuro-gire” described as “attributed to Emperor Saga (Japanese, 785-842 (reigned 809-823)); Heian period, 9th century; Japan; ink on paper,” with the credit line “Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto.” This object is part of the Museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

  [6] See notes 4 and 5.

  Research updated July 9, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Words of Wisdom: Buddhist Calligraphy from Japan (April 1, 2023 to February 25, 2024)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Inoue Kaoru (1836-1915)

  Masuda Don'o (1838-1938)

  London Gallery, Ltd.

  Sylvan Barnet (1926-2015)

  William Burto (1921-2013)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto

• Type

  Calligraphy

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  800s

• Name

  Inoue, Kaoru, Barnet, Sylvan, Masuda, Don'o, London Gallery, Ltd., Burto, William

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Japanese Art, Early Heian (Jogwan) period (794 - 897)

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Calligraphy (visual works)