Preliminary identification
Photo reference
5 uploaded photos
Overview
This exquisite Japanese painted handscroll (emakimono) depicts the 'Nihon Sankei' (Three Views of Japan: Matsushima, Amanohashidate, and Miyajima/Itsukushima). Rendered in fine mineral pigments and ink on silk with gold-flecked silk brocade borders, it bears the signature and seal of Sumiyoshi Naiki Hiroyuki (住吉内記廣行) alongside a titled paulownia wood storage box (tomobako).
Story
During the Edo era, Tokugawa shoguns commissioned court painters of the Sumiyoshi school to immortalize Japan's most sacred coastlines. This scroll allowed an aristocratic viewer to travel the entire nation from the comfort of a tatami room.
Maker / Origin
Sumiyoshi Hiroyuki (1755–1811), also known as Naiki, was the sixth head of the renowned Sumiyoshi school and an official painter (Goyō Eshi) to the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Condition & Value
Fair to good antique condition. The silk ground shows natural age toning, light creasing, and minor foxing consistent with Edo-period textiles. The wood box has typical surface oxidation; overall well preserved.
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Comparable demand stays strongest where maker, originality, and venue confidence line up. Broader examples still trade, but the range tightens quickly when provenance, condition, or selling lane fit is missing.
Best Venue
Specialty auction or a focused dealer with buyers already in this lane.
Signed example with light edge wear and original frame.
Comparable format with stronger provenance and cleaner surface.
Smaller related piece with visible craquelure and trimmed margins.
Period match with softer condition and weaker subject matter.
Close market lane comp with similar material and presentation.