Hashimoto Senkei (go Shurin) (1634 - 1703), Falcons - Kayo Zu, Edo period (1615-1868), 1670-1680. Photo courtesy Helena Markus Antique Japanese Screens.

Six paintings mounted on a six-fold screen with gold leaf. Each panel is sealed “Echizen Tsuruga“ and ”Shurin“. Height: 172 cm 50 mm , Width: 364 cm. Dimensions in inches: Height: 2'' 44', Width: 8'' 47' 1/4

Hashimoto Senkei was a pupil of Kanō Tan'yū. Later he was employed as a painter by the Obama han (feudal clan) of Wakasa in the province of Echizen (present Fukui). He came from a family of painters of falcons and himself specialized in this type of paintings. His father, Hashimoto Chōbei was known under the name “the Falcon of Tsuruga”.

The daimyō of Tsuruga (Echizen province), actually employed a group of painters specialized in depicting falcons. They were largely influenced by the Soga school painters such as Soga Chokuan and Soga Nichokuan (late16th-17th century). The last two considered themselves descendants of Soga Jasoku (?-1483), also an Echizen artist.

One of the feature that distinguishes the Soga school is that their paintings are not merely stylized compilations of idealized birds but, instead, they all have character and life. They are birds of prey and as such, are hunters, alert and ready to move with great swiftness.

The type of painting kayō zu, a technical term which means “falcon on a perch” depicts still falcons. The falcons are tied to the perch (hoko) with a cordon (ōo). The word kayō is composed of the character ka, perch, and yō, falcon.

There was a broad production of this type of work, which reflected the passion of the military class for falconry.

Hashimoto Senkei, following the tradition of the Soga painters, is careful with delineating of the plumage, beaks and eyes of the birds. His often totally-true-to-life images are the result of the artist’s direct study of nature. One of the main characteristics of this genre of work is the great detail given to the feathering of the falcons, but other important aspects are the resolution of the grain, the decoration of the perches and the way the cordons are tied, all depicted with great realism. They are paintings with an almost photographic rendering.

Moreover, in the oshi-e hari (paintings mounted on screens), the posture of the falcons, the colour of the feathering, the colour and the type of the perch and the cordon are different in every panel, allowing the viewer to appreciate the variety. Our screen, composed of six paintings of “falcons on perches”, has a particular appeal to it.

During the Edo period those screens were mostly used and kept in the castles and therefore some of them are still now in remarkably good condition, as is the case with our screen.

There are three screens with falcons in Museé Guimet in Paris and two in the Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst in Berlin. A very similar pair of six panel screens can be seen in the collection of the Tsukuba University, Japan.

Provenance: Japan.

Helena Markus Antique Japanese Screens. MasterArt at TEFAF 2014. 14-23 march 2014 - http://www.masterart.com/