Tenman Tenjin Shinto Yashiro 天神 Daimyo Shogun Samurai Buddha Miniature Zushi Shrine 大名

Antique Japanese Wood Yashiro Zushi Shrine
Sugawara no Michizane Tenjin 天満天神
Daimyo Zenshuyo 大名禅宗様
Circa: 19th century and earlier
H 3.25 in. (8.25 cm.), W 2.25 in. (5.7 cm.), D 1.75 in. (4.5 cm.)
Condition: excellent!

A tiny antique Japanese traveling zushi shrine in Zen Buddhist architectural style (Zenshuyo 禅宗様) Depicting a shogun daimyo attired in fine robes, firmly seated on a rectangular cushion atop a carved and gilded multi-tiered pedestal. The characteristic figure is impossibly small (0.5”), solidly built-in inside the hogyo minka with hatched twin doors on either side, when opened revealing two paintings of cranes flying over the pine forests. In this small piece intended as a traveling companion, the image may be interpreted to be Sugawara no Michizane 菅原 道真, 845 – 903 of the Heian Period. He is revered in Shinto as the god of learning, and enshrined in a Yashiro as the Sky God Tenman Tenjin 天満天神.