Takarabune means
“treasure ship”. It is a symbol of good
tidings and blessings to come.
Often the character for
“treasure” is written upon its sail and it is
always laden with felicitous symbols, not limited to those
listed on the previous page. Often the Seven Lucky Sages (shichifukujin) may
be seen aboard, or just as easily a host of modern politicians
as part of a campaign offering a “new deal”.
Miyamairi with a full compliment of
takarazukushi, including a treasure ship with the character
“takara” written on the sail.
crane
coral
angel wings
cloves
bales of rice
treasure bag
mallet
hat of invisibility
and
key to the treasure house
cloves
hat of invisibility
magatama
key to treasure house
Takarabune by
John Marshall
(after the style of maiwai designs)
natural dyes on silk noil
Have you ever tried doing an image search
on Ichiro-ya? Simply go to the main page, find the section
SEARCH and type in “maiwai” in the KEY WORD box and
see what you get!
Treasure Island by
John Marshall
natural dyes on linen (katazome method of
rice paste resist), 104”h x 132”w
I teach a course in Visual Literacy. The
focus is on becoming literate in the visual clues found in art.
So much of what we see as simply “pretty” has much
more meaning and depth if we take time to understand all the
symbolism the artist or culture has embedded in a given piece.
In my triptych Treasure Island, I am attempting to use some of
the traditional Japanese imagery in such a manner as to allow
the viewer to interpret the story in a variety of ways.
This island is overgrown with lions
and peonies, and we can see
the ship is heading away from the island (treasure ships are
traditionally depicted approaching the viewer - bringing great
gifts). Is this ship laden with treasure to share abroad? Is it
a crew fleeing the bounty? Since the winged lion is also a
symbol of St. Mark the Evangelist, founder of Christianity in
Africa, could this be a colony on the continent (the smaller
“Marks” being the converts) sending off a mission
ship? Will the recipients consider this a treasure ship of
knowledge, or be unprepared to embrace an unsolicited gift?
Studying the imagery employed in art is even more fun than
receiving your first decoder ring!
