Anonymous (18th - 19th century)
Anonymous (18th - 19th century)

The ten signs of long life (Shipjangsaeng)

Details
Anonymous (18th - 19th century)
The ten signs of long life (Shipjangsaeng)
Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on paper
31 ¼ x 18 7/8 in. (79.4 x 47.9 cm.) each
With wood box
Provenance
Private collection, Japan

Lot Essay

The Ten Signs of Long Life are found in the Land of the Immortals associated with the Daoist immortality cult that developed in China during the Han dynasty. Because of their magical potency, the emblems of long life were immensely popular in all strata of Joseon-dynasty Korean society. The ten symbols usually included in Shipjangsaeng imagery are deer, water, rocks, cranes, tortoises, pines, bamboo, the sun and pulloch'o, the fungus of immortality.
For a similar work, see Paintings of Korea's Joseon Dynasty and Japan: The Art of a neighboring Kingdom that Inspired Sotatsu, Taiga and Jakuchu, exh. cat. (Osaka: Yomiuri Shinbun Osaka Honsha, 2008), pl. 147.

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