Artwork
Poem-card from the Shinkokin wakashu (New Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times) with Design of Pine on a Beach
Poem-card from the Shinkokin wakashu (New Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times) with Design of Pine on a Beach is an unspecified painting by the Baroque artist Honami Kōetsu. It dates from 1606 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. This small paper card, part of a limited set of sixteen surviving examples, combines a painted image with calligraphic verse.
About this work
Overview
This small paper card, part of a limited set of sixteen surviving examples, combines a painted image with calligraphic verse. The surface is adorned with a stylized pine tree rendered in metallic gold and silver pigments, set against a depiction of a sandy shoreline. Along the side, a poem is inscribed in Japanese characters, creating a unified visual‑literary object.
Subject & Meaning
The accompanying poem, taken from the Shinkokin wakashu anthology, reflects on solitude and the distant moon over an ancient capital. The verses, read from top to bottom and right to left, evoke a sense of longing as the speaker contemplates the lone celestial body shining above the city at dawn.
Technique & Style
The image employs the Rimpa school’s characteristic use of shimmering metal leaf to outline the pine and beach, emphasizing decorative elegance over realistic detail. Brushwork is flat and decorative, with bold outlines that contrast with the luminous background, while the calligraphy follows traditional vertical alignment, integrating text and image in a harmonious composition.
History & Provenance
Attributed to Tawaraya Sotatsu for the gold‑and‑silver design and to Hon’ami Koetsu for the calligraphic inscription, the card exemplifies the collaborative practice that helped define the early Rimpa movement in early‑17th‑century Japan. Only sixteen such poem‑cards are known to survive, indicating their limited production and the rarity of the surviving pieces.
Artist & collection
Artist
Hon'ami Kōetsu (Japanese: 本阿弥 光悦; 1558 – 27 February 1637) was a Japanese calligrapher, craftsman, lacquerer, potter, landscape gardener, connoisseur of swords and a devotee of the tea ceremony.
Poem-card from the Shinkokin wakashu (New Collection of Japanese Poems from Ancient and Modern Times) with Design of Pine on a Beach
Poem from the Kokin Wakashu ("Collection of Japanese Poems of Ancient and Modern Times")
Waka Poem with Printed Gold-and-Silver Underpainting of Cypress Fronds
Section of a Handscroll with Waka and Underpainting of Pines
