金銀刷檜絵下絵和歌巻断簡 (Kingin-zuri hinoki shita-e wakakan dankan)|Waka Poem with Printed Gold-and-Silver Underpainting of Cypress Fronds

Hon'ami Kōetsu 本阿弥光悦

early 17th century · Section of a handscroll mounted as hanging scroll; ink on paper with decoration printed in gold and silver · Asian Art

Overlapping fronds of moss ferns (shinobugusa) create a dramatic gold and silver background for a dynamically brushed waka in the distinctive style of Hon’ami Kōetsu, one of the most highly regarded and influential calligraphers of the early seventeenth century. The winter poem from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū) is rendered in the scattered-writing (chirashi-gaki) mode, with staggered columns. It reads: 此河に もみぢばなかがる おく山の 雪げの水ぞ いまゝさるらし Tinged autumn leaves drift along this stream, So it seems that the snow must now be melting faster, deep in the mountains.

Artist

Hon'ami Kōetsu 本阿弥光悦

Date

early 17th century

Medium

Section of a handscroll mounted as hanging scroll; ink on paper with decoration printed in gold and silver

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2020