Object Details
Label
Grains and vegetables--including corn, eggplant, and taro--are unusual additions to this array of seasonal flowers depicted in an imaginary gardenlike setting. From right to left, the blooming or fruiting plants represent a seasonal progression from early spring (bog rhubarb and kerria) to late summer, when ripe wheat and millet mingle with autumn-blooming flowers such as bush clover and Chinese bellflowers. The convention of depicting seasonal plants arranged against a gold ground on folding screens and sliding paper-panelled doors (fusuma) originated in the Kyoto workshop of Tawaraya Sotatsu (active circa 1600-1640) and became a successful mainstay of that studio's repetoire. One hallmark of the Sotatsu style is the use of overlapping wet pigments that blur at the edges, a technique known as tarashikomi.
Provenance
To 1896
Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1896 [1]
From 1896 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1896 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Screen List, S.I. 61, pg. 1, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[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
Sotatsu: Making Waves (Saturday, October 24, 2015 to Sunday, January 31, 2016)
Seasons: Japanese Screens (July 9, 2011 to January 22, 2012)
Previous custodian or owner
Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Date
17th century
Period
Edo period
Accession Number
F1896.82
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Painting
Medium
Color over gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 181 x 377.9 cm (71 1/4 x 148 3/4 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
plant
flower
autumn
summer
Edo period (1615 - 1868)
Japan
Japanese Art
Charles Lang Freer collection
Link to Original Record
Record ID
fsg_F1896.82