Object Details
Artist
Kawamata Tsuneyuki 川又常行 (1676?-1741?)
Signatures
Signed: Tsuneyuki hitsu.
Marks
Contains seal.
Label
The Tale of Genji, written in the early eleventh century by Murasaki Shikibu, a woman of the imperial court, became widely known during the Edo period (1615-1868) through illustrated printed books. By the eighteenth century, when this painting was created, the conventional elements identifying famous episodes were recognizable, even without text. Here a scene from the thirty-fourth chapter of Genji is transformed into an unexpected contemporary context through a convention known as mitate (often translated as "parody"), a literary and pictorial device that employs an unexpected parallel or comparison between apparently unrelated images.
In The Tale of Genji, an illicit romance begins when Prince Genji's rival at court glimpses Genji's new wife as a cat pushes the bamboo curtain aside during a game of kemari, a form of kickball. Here, the Genji scene is suggested by the white kemari ball, the spring setting, and the woman concealed behind a bamboo blind, but instead of Heian-period (794-1185) courtiers, the women in the courtyard are contemporary courtesans of the urban "floating world," and the woman behind the blind, who is a high-ranking courtesan, reclines as she allows the red lining of her kimono to show alluringly outside the curtain.
Provenance
To 1898
Edward S. Hull Jr., New York to 1898 [1]
From 1898 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Edward S. Hull Jr. in 1898 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Original Panel List, L. 6, pg. 2, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Edward S. Hull Jr. was Ernest Francisco Fenollosa’s (1853-1908) lawyer. Hull often acted as an agent, facilitating purchases of objects consigned to him by Fenollosa, as well as purchases of objects consigned to him by Fenollosa's
well-known associate, Bunshichi Kobayashi (see correspondence, Hull to Freer, 1898-1900, as well as invoices from E.S. Hull Jr., 1898-1900, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives). See also, Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), pgs. 15 and 34. See further, Thomas Lawton and Linda Merrill, Freer: A Legacy of Art, (Washington, DC and New York: Freer Gallery of Art and H. N. Abrams, 1993), pgs. 133-134.
[2] See note 1.
[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History
Painting the Classics: Japanese Scrolls and Beyond (November 17, 2018 to October 20, 2019)
Tales and Legends in Japanese Art (June 21, 2003 to January 4, 2004)
Japanese Ukiyo-e Painting (May 2, 1973 to July 1, 1974)
Previous custodian or owner
Edward S. Hull Jr. (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Date
early 18th century
Period
Edo period
Accession Number
F1898.118
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Painting
Medium
Ink, color, and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (image): 53.4 × 53.4 cm (21 × 21 in)
Origin
Japan
Related Online Resources
Google Arts & Culture
See more items in
National Museum of Asian Art
Data Source
National Museum of Asian Art
Topic
playing
Edo period (1615 - 1868)
cherry blossom
game playing
Japan
ukiyo-e
kakemono
Japanese Art
Charles Lang Freer collection
Link to Original Record
Record ID
fsg_F1898.118