A spoonbill and water-grass
date: label: Date
content: 17th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: School of Kano Tan'yu 狩野探幽 (1602-1674)
notes: label: Label
content: A few light touches of the brush represent water and marsh grasses, while a pale ink wash defines the form of the bird and contrasts with its white plumage. From his broad knowledge of Chinese and Japanese painting styles and subjects, Tan’yu developed a distinctive new aesthetic that was a unique synthesis of the two artistic traditions. Characteristics of Tan’yu’s influential style appear in this painting, particularly in the use of ink to suggest rather than to describe physical form.
label: Label
content: Tan’yu began his artistic training in Kyoto but moved to Edo in 1614. Years later he became a leading artist of the Kano school, a lineage of professional painters who, since the fifteenth century, had served shoguns, members of the imperial court, and other elite patrons. He rose to become the head of the Bureau of Painting (Edokoro), and his branch of the Kano school received major official commissions.
label: Provenance
content: To 1904
label: Provenance
content: Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921), Kidderminster, England, to 1904 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1904 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Michael Tomkinson in 1904 [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 List, L. 396, pg. 102, 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: Japanese Arts in the Edo Period: 1615-1868, part 2 (March 8 to October 19, 2008)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: kakemono
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
label: Topic
content: spoonbill
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: F1904.123
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and tint on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 101 × 37.7 cm (39 3/4 × 14 7/8 in)