古筆切の手鑑 『藻鏡』|A Mirror of Gathered Seaweed (Mokagami)
8th–17th century
Medium
Album of 301 calligraphy fragments; mostly ink on paper, some on dyed or decorated paper
Dimensions
Album: 15 3/4 × 13 3/8 × 6 5/16 in. (40 × 34 × 16 cm)
Classification
Calligraphy
Culture & Period
Japan · Nara (710–794)–Edo (1615–1868) period
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
Accession Number
2015.300.229
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the timeless world of Japanese calligraphy withA Mirror of Gatheredweed (Mokagami)*, an exquisite album known as *Furitsu no tegami*. Compiled as a *tegan*—a hand-held manual for calligraphic study—this treasure houses 301 fragments clipped from ancient documents, spanning the Nara period (710–794 to the Edo period (1615–8). Created by various master calligraphers, it Japan's profound reverence for writing as an art form, where brushstrokes convey not just words but rhythm, emotion, and spiritual depth. The album's historical significance lies in its role as a "mirror" for aspiring ...