JAPANESE PRINTS
A MILLION QUESTIONS
TWO MILLION
MYSTERIES
Ukiyo-e Prints
浮世絵版画
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Port Townsend, Washington |
OHARA KOSON |
小原古邨 |
おはらこそん |
1877-1945 |
Monkey in a
Persimmon Tree |
Date: 1935 |
Signature:
Shōson
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署名: 祥邨 |
しょめい: しょうそん |
Size: 11" x 9 5/8" |
Illustrated:
Crows, Cranes & Camellias - The Natural World of Ohara Koson 1877-1945
Japanese Prints From the Jan Perrée Collection,
by Amy Newland Reigle,
Jan Perrée and Robert Schaap, by Hotei Publishing, Leiden, 2001, p. 201. |
$540.00
SOLD! |
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The Monkey and the Wasp
There is an exhibition right now of Edo
Period paintings from the Price collection showing at the Sackler Gallery on
the Mall in Washington, D.C. One of the works is a hanging scroll by Mori
Sosen (1747-1821: 森狙仙) of a monkey 'tracking' a wasp. In a review
in the Washington Post (November 15, 2007) Joe Price notes that this image
is actually a visually pun. The words for wasp and fiefdom rhyme - hachi and
hochi - as do the words for monkey and lord.* The moral: Watch out! If you
are given a fiefdom by your lord you might get stung.
*My understanding of Japanese is not good
enough to prove this concept right or wrong, but sometimes you just have to
accept certain bits of information on faith. Besides, it sounds reasonable
to me. |
Koson/Shōson/Hōson
Years ago I did some basic research on
Koson. I was limited by my inability to read Japanese and by my overall
ignorance. Being from Missouri I am also skeptical of almost everything
through and through. Nevertheless, I did repeat the information which I was
able to compile at that time: Koson changed his name to Shōson in 1912 and
then quit producing bird and flower prints for the next 14 years. However,
the latest thought on that hiatus has now been reconsidered by the experts.
The gap may not have been so glaring after all. "...the artist may well have
continued to use the name Koson into the Taisho period, thereby debunking
the previous explanation that he ceased his printmaking activites from 1922
to 1926." (The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the
Robert O. Muller Collection, p. 123) The problem is that Koson didn't
date his prints and unlike earlier periods there are no tell tale seals or
stamps which can help us.
Then there is the issue of his background.
"Despite a print legacy numbering in the hundreds, little is known about the
life of Ohara Koson. He was born Ohara Matao in 1877 in Kanazawa..." Amy
Reigle Newland notes that he reportedly was the student of Suzuki Kason who
was grounded in traditional art movements. While Newland uses the word
'reportedly' to describe Koson's possible connection with Kason the Toledo
Museum of Art catalogue from 1930 states definitively that he was his
student. (Modern Japanese Prints, 1997 repro.) Helen Merritt repeats
this in her Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints (University of
Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 116): "Studied with Shijō-style painter Suzuki Kason."
In The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O.
Muller Collection - Amy Reigle Stephens as general editor - the
catalogue entry on Kason (p. 88) states that: "Ironically, however, the
artist is best-remembered as the teacher of Ohara Koson (Shōson)..." The
confusion may be more a matter of where Koson studied with Kason as opposed
to whether he ever studied with him at all. Some sources say the student met
the teacher in Kanazawa. Others say it was Tokyo. But Newland notes: "Matao's
adoption of hte artist's name Koson - the son in Koson corresponding
to the last character in Kason - would have been in keeping with the
tradition of transmission from teacher to pupil and is perhaps additional
proof of their association." (Crows, Cranes and Cemellias: The Natural
World of Ohara Koson 1877-1945, Hotei Publishing, 2001, p. 9) If this
leaves you a bit befuddled, forget it. Move on. When push comes to shove it
is the final product of Koson's prints which count and that is really all
that matters.
It is generally agreed that Ernest
Fenellosa (1853-1908) encouraged Koson to send his paintings to the United
States for exhibition and sale. His prints, too, were meant for foreign
consumption. "Shōson was commissioned by Watanabe after 1926 to do both
small souvenir prints....and full-size shin hanga. These decorative
prints by Shōson, intended exclusively for export, are reported by Robert
Muller to have been a staple of his own business in sending print
exhibitions around to American schools in the early post-war period." (The
New Wave, p. 33)
Now for the Hōson issue: This is the name
he used "...on works published by Sakai-Kawaguchi." (Guide to Modern
Japanese Woodblock Prints) |
THE PERSIMMON
柿
かき
THE PRACTICAL FRUIT |
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As far as I know
the persimmon has no symbolic meaning in Japanese culture, but it certainly
does have quite a few practical uses and associations. Grown on all of the
islands except Hokkaido the persimmon is divided into two major categories -
astringent and non-astringent. Both are edible under different
circumstances, but it is the astringent kind that has some surprising
applications. For example, in the production of gold leaf or kimpaku (金箔 or
きんぱく) it is very important that the gold itself not become stuck to the
sheets of paper used in the process. This is where the persimmon juice comes
in handy. Gampishi (雁皮紙 or がんぴし), a special type of paper, treated with the
astringent juice of this fruit, is made so smooth that the delicately thin
gold will not stick to it even with additional pounding leaving it as thin
as 1/10,000th of a millimeter thick.
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WHAT'S IN A NAME?
One of my frequent
correspondents has thoroughly enjoyed sending me articles about what
possibilities the Japanese have for naming their children these days. Since
1990 the Ministry of Justice has increased the number of options considerably. A
panel originally enlarged the selection with numerous other kanji characters
and then the public was allowed to comment. At that point certain kanji were
eliminated from the list like those which meant "hemorrhoid" and
"debauchery". But others which are not likely to be used like "armpit" and
"pots" were allowed to remain. Even "shrimp" or ebi stayed on the list, but
is not likely to show up on kindergarten rosters. [This strikes us as even
odder considering the history of the use of the kanji for shrimp. See
our ebi page for numerous examples.]
One kanji character which did make the cut was the one for persimmon which
like its sister name strawberry may become far more popular.
If Frank Zappa
could name his children Dweezil and Moon Unit then as far as I am concerned
the Japanese can name their children whatever they like --- even Persimmon. |
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WHAT'S IN SAKE?
Some sake producers
mix certain ingredients in shallow wooden troughs coated with persimmon
tannin. |
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IN FISHING
Prior to the use of
nylon netting fisherman treated their nets with persimmon juice to keep them
from rotting and to create surfaces which were smoother and less likely to
bundle or snag. In this way the persimmon served a similar purpose to that
used for making gold leaf as can be seen in the entry at the top of this
section. |
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Above is a postage
stamp issued by Monaco
in 1981 showing a
fruited branch of a
persimmon tree. As you
can see they used the
French term for
persimmon 'plaqueminier' and
the Japanese 'kaki'. |
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Stupid me! I set out
to write something about persimmons in Japanese culture and totally forgot
that one of my favorite personal objects
is a very small and
very, very heavy cast iron reproduction of that fruit. Its purpose? It is a
vermillion seal ink holder. |
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