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Old Pine

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Old Pine

1925

Tsuji Kako

Japanese, 1870 - 1931

Almost certainly, the crane is the most auspicious motif in Japanese art, as well as the most ubiquitous. Since ancient times, cranes have been depicted on every kind of East Asian artistic medium as symbols of good fortune. In this pair of hanging scrolls, the artist has joined a pair of red-crowned cranes-connoting a long and harmonious marriage-with an ancient, gnarled pine. This felicitous and highly decorative coupling signifies the fervent wish for happiness and longevity.

Ink and colors on beige toned silk.
50 3/8 x 16 9/16 inches (128 x 42 cm) Image;
86 5/8 x 24 5/8 inches (220 x 62.5 cm) Overall.
Gift of Griffith and Patricia Way, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum
2010.41.99.1
location
Not currently on view

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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