Poem Accompanying an Over Robe (Uchikake) with a Bamboo Painting by Gion Nankai
The Confucian scholar, Nanga-school painter, calligrapher, and poet Rai San’yō was born in Osaka and studied in Hiroshima and Edo before decamping to Kyoto in 1811, where he opened a school and devoted himself to the writing of kanshi poetry (verses composed in Chinese by Japanese authors). This handscroll with his verse was commissioned by the owners of a rare silk-satin over robe with a bamboo forest painted in ink by the renowned Nanga artist Gion Nankai (1677–1751; see 1975.268.88). The garment had been treasured for generations by the Karakane family, and the poem, in expertly and crisply brushed Chinese characters, was intended to celebrate its inclusion in the trousseau of a young Karakane woman.
Because of San'y’ō's status as one of the leading Chinese-style calligraphers of the day, this scroll has been cherished over the centuries and preserved together with the precious silk robe. This poem scroll is accompanied by two other documents in andscroll format: one records the provenance of the over robe that Nankai painted and how San’yō was inspired to brush this elegant encomium (1975.269.90); the other is an authenticity statement (1975.269.91).
At the beginning of the handscroll, preceding Sanyō’s long poetic inscription, are two sheets also praising Nankai’s bamboo painting by physician-scholars active in Kyoto, Imaeda Seiken and Kuno Hansan, as well as a third sheet with a poem by San’yo’s grandson, Rai Kiyoshi.
Because of San'y’ō's status as one of the leading Chinese-style calligraphers of the day, this scroll has been cherished over the centuries and preserved together with the precious silk robe. This poem scroll is accompanied by two other documents in andscroll format: one records the provenance of the over robe that Nankai painted and how San’yō was inspired to brush this elegant encomium (1975.269.90); the other is an authenticity statement (1975.269.91).
At the beginning of the handscroll, preceding Sanyō’s long poetic inscription, are two sheets also praising Nankai’s bamboo painting by physician-scholars active in Kyoto, Imaeda Seiken and Kuno Hansan, as well as a third sheet with a poem by San’yo’s grandson, Rai Kiyoshi.
Artwork Details
- 頼山陽書 久野暠・今枝世顯・頼潔後序 祇園南海筆墨竹図打掛に於いて
- Title: Poem Accompanying an Over Robe (Uchikake) with a Bamboo Painting by Gion Nankai
- Artist: Rai San’yō (Japanese, 1780–1832)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 1824
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Handscroll; ink on silk
- Dimensions: 11 7/8 x 116 3/4 in. (30.2 x 296.5 cm)
- Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.268.89
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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first half of the 18th century
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