松下絵和歌巻断簡 (Matsu shita-e wakakan dankan)|Section of a Handscroll with Waka and Underpainting of Pines
early 17th century
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on gold decorated paper
Dimensions
Image: 11 7/8 × 22 3/8 in. (30.2 × 56.8 cm) Overall with mounting: 47 × 28 in. (119.4 × 71.1 cm) Overall with knobs: 47 × 29 3/4 in. (119.4 × 75.6 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2020
Accession Number
2020.396.17
Art Historical Context
This exquisite hanging scroll fragment, titled *Section of a Handscroll Waka and Underpainting of Pines*, showcases a rare collaboration between two Rinpa school masters: Tawaraya Sōtatsu, renowned for his innovative painting, and Hon'ami Kōetsu, a celebrated calligrapher. Created in the early 17 century during Japan's Edo period (1615–1868), it features delicate ink calligraphy of waka poems overlaid on Sōtatsu's subtleainting of pine trees against shimmering gold-decorated paper. Originally part of a larger handscroll, this section (11 7/8 × 22 3/8 in.) captures the serene elegance of nature...
About the Artist
Tawaraya Sōtatsu 俵屋宗達|Hon'ami Kōetsu 本阿弥光悦 (Japanese) · 1570 –1640