Herons, shown standing in stylized water, were introduced into the Japanese design repertory during the Muromachi period (1338-1573), along with other birds that were at first considered novelties, such as cormorants, swallows, and sparrows.
The stylized linear composition of the water illustrates the traditional Japanese treatment of rivers and ponds, as well as the popular motif of a sandbar. Originally, water imagery was included to convey its power to refresh and enrich.
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| - Herons, shown standing in stylized water, were introduced into the Japanese design repertory during the Muromachi period (1338-1573), along with other birds that were at first considered novelties, such as cormorants, swallows, and sparrows.
The stylized linear composition of the water illustrates the traditional Japanese treatment of rivers and ponds, as well as the popular motif of a sandbar. Originally, water imagery was included to convey its power to refresh and enrich.
- February 16 - July 8, 2007
- Nuance in Nature
- The combinantion of the pine bough, plum blossoms, and bamboo sprigs is identified as the Three Friends of Winter, a popular theme in Japanese art.
- Repeated images of the sacred mountain Fuji; the first flowering tree of springtime, the plum blooming in the foreground; and a landscape of pine confirm that this wrapping cloth would have been used during a New Year’s celebration.
Why does the mountain have such design and cultural prominence? Japan’s major religions, Shintō and Buddhism both revere the mountain, a volcano, as representing the forces of creation. The legend of the Shintō deity of Fuji is of a beautiful goddess who brought forth her children through fire without pain and whose name signifies “radiant-blooming-as-the-flowers-of-the-trees, or causing-the-flowers-to-bloom-brightly. The grand peak of Fuji represents the form of the white bud of the Sacred Flower in Buddhism.
- Although the crane is one of the most prevalent and conspicuous symbols of traditional Japanese design, it is rendered here in the internationally recognized style of Art Moderne.
- This textile design is composed of rows of medallions or roundels featuring paulownia flower and dragon images. Dragons were associated with the East, one of the four quadrants of the universe, and were one of the four sacred creatures representing these realms. They also became associated with the imperial institution of Buddhism in Japan, mainly because of their vigilant character. On textiles, dragons are often teamed with flowers, such as the paulownia, another motif associated with the imperial family.
- The combination of motifs woven into this fabric: cranes, dragons, flowering peonies, and paulownia, all connote imperial rank and suggests that this textile may have been produced for imperial consumption or gift offering.
- The hawk/falcon (the two are not differentiated in Japanese art) became an important motif over two millennia ago in China, where falconry was a royal pastime. In Japan during the Heian period (794-1185), the nobility began enjoying the same activity. The sport grew more popular with the rise of the middle class during the Edo period (1603-1867). Eventually, birds of prey became emblems of the Japanese warrior class (samurai) because of the birds’ keen eyesight and their predatory nature. This is an example of the metaphoric symbolism in which Japanese society as a whole was so thoroughly versed.
- The etiquette associated with a fukusa was that after unwrapping the gift it covered, the receiver of the gift would return the cloth to the giver.
A lotus flower, depicted here, is a symbol of purity and a relatively rare flower in Japanese art and crest designs; however, the pheasant was held in highest esteem by imperial tradition and remains today a symbol of spring. The pheasant was a subject in Japan’s first poetry anthology, the Man’yōshū (compiled ca. 760).
- This design may be interpreted in several ways. It may be seen as utilizing a type of symbolism that is more like a pun than anything else, a type of metaphor whose subject bears a homophonic resemblance to another unrelated subject. For example, the rooster or cock embroidered on this cloth makes a sound in Japan that is understood as “kokka-koo.” The sound of this cry is the same as the spoken words that mean “happiness to our land.” Using this interpretation, although at first glance combat appears to be suggested, this scene may be one of peace and happiness rather than of strife.
- The plum tree blooms at the end of winter and heralds the coming of spring. It was a significant flower for the turning of the New Year.
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| - Herons, shown standing in stylized water, were introduced into the Japanese design repertory during the Muromachi period (1338-1573), along with other birds that were at first considered novelties, such as cormorants, swallows, and sparrows.
The stylized linear composition of the water illustrates the traditional Japanese treatment of rivers and ponds, as well as the popular motif of a sandbar. Originally, water imagery was included to convey its power to refresh and enrich.
- February 16 - July 8, 2007
- Nuance in Nature
- The combinantion of the pine bough, plum blossoms, and bamboo sprigs is identified as the Three Friends of Winter, a popular theme in Japanese art.
- Repeated images of the sacred mountain Fuji; the first flowering tree of springtime, the plum blooming in the foreground; and a landscape of pine confirm that this wrapping cloth would have been used during a New Year’s celebration.
Why does the mountain have such design and cultural prominence? Japan’s major religions, Shintō and Buddhism both revere the mountain, a volcano, as representing the forces of creation. The legend of the Shintō deity of Fuji is of a beautiful goddess who brought forth her children through fire without pain and whose name signifies “radiant-blooming-as-the-flowers-of-the-trees, or causing-the-flowers-to-bloom-brightly. The grand peak of Fuji represents the form of the white bud of the Sacred Flower in Buddhism.
- Although the crane is one of the most prevalent and conspicuous symbols of traditional Japanese design, it is rendered here in the internationally recognized style of Art Moderne.
- This textile design is composed of rows of medallions or roundels featuring paulownia flower and dragon images. Dragons were associated with the East, one of the four quadrants of the universe, and were one of the four sacred creatures representing these realms. They also became associated with the imperial institution of Buddhism in Japan, mainly because of their vigilant character. On textiles, dragons are often teamed with flowers, such as the paulownia, another motif associated with the imperial family.
- The combination of motifs woven into this fabric: cranes, dragons, flowering peonies, and paulownia, all connote imperial rank and suggests that this textile may have been produced for imperial consumption or gift offering.
- The hawk/falcon (the two are not differentiated in Japanese art) became an important motif over two millennia ago in China, where falconry was a royal pastime. In Japan during the Heian period (794-1185), the nobility began enjoying the same activity. The sport grew more popular with the rise of the middle class during the Edo period (1603-1867). Eventually, birds of prey became emblems of the Japanese warrior class (samurai) because of the birds’ keen eyesight and their predatory nature. This is an example of the metaphoric symbolism in which Japanese society as a whole was so thoroughly versed.
- The etiquette associated with a fukusa was that after unwrapping the gift it covered, the receiver of the gift would return the cloth to the giver.
A lotus flower, depicted here, is a symbol of purity and a relatively rare flower in Japanese art and crest designs; however, the pheasant was held in highest esteem by imperial tradition and remains today a symbol of spring. The pheasant was a subject in Japan’s first poetry anthology, the Man’yōshū (compiled ca. 760).
- This design may be interpreted in several ways. It may be seen as utilizing a type of symbolism that is more like a pun than anything else, a type of metaphor whose subject bears a homophonic resemblance to another unrelated subject. For example, the rooster or cock embroidered on this cloth makes a sound in Japan that is understood as “kokka-koo.” The sound of this cry is the same as the spoken words that mean “happiness to our land.” Using this interpretation, although at first glance combat appears to be suggested, this scene may be one of peace and happiness rather than of strife.
- The plum tree blooms at the end of winter and heralds the coming of spring. It was a significant flower for the turning of the New Year.
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