Ivy vines, bridges and floating fans 蔦の細道扇面流図屏風
date: label: Date
content: early 17th century
label: Period
content: Momoyama or Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Tawaraya Sotatsu 俵屋宗達 (fl. ca. 1600-1643)
notes: label: Label
content: The image of painted fans spilling off from a bridge into a stream evokes the memory of the legendary journey made by a fifteenth-century shogun traveling from the center of Kyoto to an outlying temple. While crossing a bridge, one of the shogun's servants accidentally dropped his master's fan into the rushing water below. Struck by the sudden poignant reminder of beauty's fragility and fleeting nature, all in the shogun's retinue followed suit, casting their fans into the stream.
label: Label
content: For the literate Japanese viewer, the image of ivy leaves set within long bands of color evoked a passage from the tenth-century collection of lyric episodes, Tales of Ise. In the ninth episode a group traveling to the east from Kyoto encounters an ascetic in a dark and narrow valley filled with ivy. The ascetic is implored by one forlorn traveler to carry back a message to his lady, who is waiting in the capital.
label: Label
content: This skillful visual union of heretofore unjoined classical subjects in a common theme was a trademark of the seventeenth-century studio of Tawaraya Sotatsu (died circa 1642). In this instance, the two occasions provide ample reflection on the multiple meanings of happenstance.
label: Provenance
content: Sugiyama, Kamaoka, Hyogo prefecture, Japan [1]
label: Provenance
content: To 1902
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, to 1902, purchased from a farmer in Sugiyama [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1902 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Yamanaka & Company in 1902 [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Mr. Yamanaka bought this pair of screens from Mr. Sugiyama, a farmer, living at Kamaoka. See Curatorial Remark #3 in the object record.
label: Provenance
content: [2] Undated folder sheet note. See Original Screen List, L. 60, pg. 15, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. The majority of Charles Lang Freer’s purchases from Yamanaka & Company were made at its New York branch. Yamanaka & Company maintained branch offices, at various times, in Boston, Chicago, London, Peking, Shanghai, Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the summer, the company also maintained seasonal locations in Newport, Bar Harbor, and Atlantic City.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See note 2.
label: Provenance
content: [4] 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.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Rinpa Screens (February 25, 2023 to February 24, 2024)
label: Exhibition History
content: Sotatsu: Making Waves (Saturday, October 24, 2015 to Sunday, January 31, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens (March 2007 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Art—Painted Screens (August 18, 1967 to May 2, 1973)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens (October 3, 1947 to November 10, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Screens, 1923 (May 2, 1923 to April 5, 1933)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Sugiyama collection
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Momoyama period (1573 - 1615)
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: fan
label: Topic
content: bridge
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1902.102-103
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink, color, gold, and silver on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (each): 170 x 381 cm (66 15/16 x 150 in)