Kambun Bijin

17th century

Japanese, 1599 - 1669

Japanese

As painter, haiku poet, and calligrapher, the versatile Kyoto artist Hinaya (or Nonoguchi) Ryuho (1595-1669) combined his impressive skills in this example of a haiku painting. A stylish young woman, wearing a brilliant colored kimono with decorative shogi (the Japanese board game pieces) designs, is captured turning aside in a graceful dancing movement. Viewers at that time could find a subtle double meaning in this witty and elegant work, because the word shogi phonetically translates as "a licensed prostitute."

Haiku poem on the left:

At Mount Otaba, petals fall like snow.
Can man know the beauties and feeling of these?
Her dancing figure is like flowers and her voice like perfume.

Color on silk

31 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (79.38 x 32.07 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

60.80

Photo: Paul Macapia

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, December 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Refined Harmony: Decorative Arts from the Edo Period", March 7, 2003 - March 23, 2004

San Francisco, California, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, "Treasures of Japan", 1960 (1960)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Thousand Cranes: Treasures of Japanese Art", February 5 - July 12, 1987 (2/05/1987 - 7/12/1987

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum", 1960 (1960)

Published ReferencesFuller, Richard E. "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 167

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