Red Sea Bream (<em>Tai</em>) on Bamboo Leaves
date: label: Date
content: 18th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Ogawa Ritsuo (1663-1747)
notes: label: School/Tradition
content: Individualist
label: Signatures
content: Signature: Painted by Ukanshi Ritsuo, 76 (years old).
label: Marks
content: Seals: Kan, and Shoko (?).
label: Label
content: The Japanese word tai (sea bream) is also an element of the word medetai, which means auspicious or fortunate. Tai is prized for its flavor and as a food signifying good fortune for the New Year, weddings, and other celebrations. Here, the painter Ogawa Ritsuo, who was skilled in the decoration of lacquer, presented the tai on a bed of bamboo, a plant that symbolizes longevity. The tai exhibits meticulous details and unusual coloration in its scales. Ritsuo’s inclusion of gold behind the silk creates unusual iridescent effects that utilize the technical knowledge and precision he developed from his experience in maki-e, the practice of applying metal powders and gold leaf to lacquerware for decoration. According to the inscription to the right, Ritsuo painted this intriguing still life in his seventy-sixth year.
label: Provenance
content: To 1897
label: Provenance
content: Bunkio Matsuki (1867-1940), Boston, to 1897 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1897 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Bunkio Matsuki in 1897 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, pg. 22, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [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.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Bountiful Waters: Aquatic Life in Japanese Art (March 8 to September 14, 2014)
label: Exhibition History
content: Japanese Arts in the Edo Period: 1615-1868, part 2 (March 8 to October 19, 2008)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Bunkio Matsuki 松木文恭 (1867-1940) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: fish
label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: bamboo
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: kakemono
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: F1897.30
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 30 x 50.7 cm (11 13/16 x 19 15/16 in)