Selected poems
Object Details
- Label
- This handscroll is written on paper lavishly decorated with cloudlike patterns, landscapes, and abstract designs in silver and gold. The elegant calligraphy presents five poems from the Shinkokinshu (New Anthology of Ancient and Modern Verse), compiled in 1205. Exceptional calligraphic style is apparent in this unsigned scroll, which preserves the nuances of the fluent writing of Japanese hiragana script and Chinese characters associated with Emperor Fushimi, an accomplished calligrapher. A label written by Emperor Gonara (1496-1557), attributes the scroll to Emperor Fushimi who reigned briefly between 1287 and 1298. This calligraphy was written by the youthful Emperor Fushimi, when he was following the model of Heian-period calligrapher Fujiwara no Yukinari (or Kozei, 972-1027). The spacious composition and spacing of this calligraphy, however, already reveals a distinctive personal style. The paper is decorated with a design executed in gold and silver pigments and leaf that suggests a landscape of a shoreline, clouds, water, and hills in the distance. The landscape design in shimmering gold and silver creates the illusion of dissolving the flat surface plane of the paper so that the fluently written calligraphy appears to float.
- Provenance
- Sakai Shinsaku [1]
- From at least 1973 to 1973
- N.V. Hammer, Inc., from at least 1973
- From 1973
- Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from N. V. Hammer, Inc. in 1973
- Notes:
- [1] For source of Sakai Shinsaku provenance, see Curatorial Note 2, Y. Shimizu, 1979 in object record. From 1962 to 1965, this object was exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum (see Curatorial Note 2, Y. Shimizu, 1979, in object record).
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to June 27, 1994)
- From Concept to Context: Approaches to Asian and Islamic Calligraphy (July 28, 1986 to February 6, 1987)
- Japanese Calligraphy (December 21, 1984 to November 7, 1985)
- A Decade of Discovery: Selected Acquisitions 1970-1980 (November 9, 1979 to May 22, 1980)
- Japanese Calligraphy (April 18, 1977 to September 13, 1977)
- Untitled Exhibition, Tokyo National Museum, 1962-1965 (1962 to1965)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Sakai Shinsaku
- N.V. Hammer, Inc.
- Credit Line
- Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- ca. 1294
- Period
- Kamakura period
- Accession Number
- F1976.7
- Artist
- Emperor Fushimi (1265-1317; reigned 1287-98)
- Inscription
- Emperor Gonara (1496-1557) (outer label)
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Calligraphy
- Medium
- Ink on paper decorated with gold and silver
- Dimensions
- H x W (overall): 29.9 x 252.9 cm (11 3/4 x 99 9/16 in)
- Origin
- Japan
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Topic
- Kamakura period (1185 - 1333)
- poetry
- cursive script
- semi-cursive script
- Japan
- Japanese Art
- Record ID
- fsg_F1976.7
