Handscroll of Chinese Poems Written on Gold-and-Silver Mud Painting of Wisteria
- Person
-
作者本阿弥光悦
- Date
-
制作年 AD17
- Title
- ホンアミコウエツヒツキンギンデイフジシタエシショカン
- Materials, techniques and shape
- 絹本墨書
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
- Ref. number
- AW-CEN-000184-0000
- License
- CC BY Images license
- Creditline
-
慶應義塾（センチュリー赤尾コレクション）
- URL
- Classification
- Art
- AI Tagging
- Handwriting Art Font Poster Ink
Hon-ami Koetsu (1558-1637) was both a calligrapher and artisan active between the late Momoyama Period and the early Edo Period. He was born into the Hon-ami Family, which had engaged in polishing, cleaning, and appreciating Japanese swords since the Muromachi Period. Koetsu is said to have started his multiple careers in ink-and-brush writing and painting, makie (the sprinkling of pictures on lacquer), and pottery when his father, Koji, established his own house, breaking away from the main Hon-ami lineage. A reputed intellectual with artistic gifts, Koetsu won the favor of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) and was given an estate in Takaga-Mine (northern Kyoto) in 1615. Here Koetsu established an art village where he created numerous fine works of art, while enjoying tea ceremony. He is known to have lived an enviable, leisurely life. In calligraphy, Koetsu first studied the Shorei-In School under Prince Soncho (1552-97). Not content with the mastery of stylistics, Koetsu’s interest shifted to the classical style (Jp. Jodai-Yo), under the obvious influence of China’s Song Dynasty calligrapher Zhang Jinzhi (1186-1266) and Priest Kukai (774-835).His resultant style is characterized by extremely varied, yet elegant and decorative, thick and thin lines, a style that was later hailed as the Koetsu School and that attracted numerous followers, including Suminokura Soan (1571-1632), Kojima Soshin (1580-1655?), and Karasumaru Mitsuhiro (1579-1638). For the exhibited poetry scroll, Koetsu selected six poems from the Monzen (lit. “Selected Poems”; Ch. Wen-hsuan) and Kobun Shimpo (lit. “Anthology of True Gems of Classical Poetry” ; Ch. Guweng Zhenbao) and wrote them in black ink on light blue silk. The neat arrangement of Chinese characters, reminiscent of the Zhang Jinzhi style, contrast nicely with the rich and bold, relaxed calligraphic style that was Koetsu’s own. The older he got, the greater variation he showed, using the brush with ample and scant black ink. The work here, however, shows only the budding Koetsu style, which became more prominent in old age. Hence, one can assume that this poem scroll was written when the artist was in his 40s or 50s. The dynamic composition rendered in gold and silver mud depicts popular motifs, including wisteria blossoms and vine as well as butterflies. On the back, many butterflies in light touch were drawn with single brush strokes using gold mud over a base coat of gofun (a white pigment made from seashells mixed with glue). This handscroll was formerly the possession of Meiji-era collector Lord Fukuoka Takachika (1835-1919).
別范安成沈休文老年相別友感念顧慮之情有不容已焉。平生（生平）少年（……）
Overview
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Depository and ID
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Details
Identifiers
- Title (EN)
- Handscroll of Chinese Poems Written on Gold-and-Silver Mud Painting of Wisteria
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1巻
- Materials, techniques and shape
-
Materials 金銀泥絵
- Attachments
- 桐箱／錦包裂／鹿角軸
Provenance
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