Shikishi by Hon-ami Koetsu
- Person
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作者本阿弥光悦
- Date
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制作年 AD17
- Title
- ホンアミコウエツヒツシキシ
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
- Ref. number
- AW-CEN-002207-0000
- 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
- Art Wood Font Tints and shades Twig
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, for generations, engaged in polishing, cleaning and appreciating Japanese swords. Koetsu seems to have started his multiple careers in ink-and-brush writing and painting, makie (sprinkling of pictures on lacquer) and pottery-making when his father, Koji, established his own family line, breaking away from the main Hon-ami household. A reputed intellectual with artistic gifts, Koetsu was quickly recognized by 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, some of which are national treasures today, e.g., Writing Box with Pontoon Bridge. He is known to have lived an enviable, leisurely life in his old age, enjoying tea ceremonies.In calligraphy, Koetsu first studied the Shoren-In School under Priestly Prince Soncho (1552-1597). Not content with the stylistics, Koetsu’s interest shifted to the classical Jodai School, under the obvious influence of China’s Sung Dynasty calligrapher Zhang Jinzhi (1186-1266; Jp. Cho Sokushi) and the Reverend Kobo Daishi Kukai (774-835), the originator of the Daishi School. The resultant style is characterized by extremely varied, yet elegant and decorative, rich and bold lines mixed with thin fine lines, a unique style that was later admired as the Koetsu School. It attracted numerous followers, such as Suminokura Soan (1571-1632), Kojima Soshin (1580-1655?) and Karasumaru Mitsuhiro (1579-1638), to name a few. Koetsu was one of the most distinguished calligraphers, admired as “Kanei-no-Sampitsu” (The Three Brushes of Kanei).This ryoshi paper is decorated with gubiki technique, or woodblock printed with mica over a base coat of white pigments (gofun), on which miniscule gold foils, almost like gold dust, are sprinkled to depict pampas grass. It was perhaps crafted by Kamishi Soji (lit. Soji, the Paper Maker), a member of Koetsu’s art community. The poem is a copy from the Shin Kokin Wakashu（The New Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poems Vol. 18, composed by Fujiwara-no-Kiyotada (?-958). The brushstrokes are a little shaky, suggesting this piece was made in the artist’s old age.
The cranes resting in the Fukei-no-Ura Bay will soar back to the sky. How will I not ever return to that important post at the palace?
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- Title (EN)
- Shikishi by Hon-ami Koetsu
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1幅
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