A Puppet-show: The Story of The Potted Trees

Object Details

• Artist

  Bunkaku

• Label

  This rare painting depicts the stage of the Takemoto theater in Osaka during a performance of the puppet play, The Woman's Potted Dwarf Trees. The story takes place during the reign of Hojo Tokiyori (1227-1263), a leader of the recently formed Kamakura military government. A retainer of that government, Tsuneyo, fell into disfavor and was banished. One snowy night Tsuneyo and his wife, living in much diminished circumstances, received a traveling monk seeking shelter. Tsuneyo, embarrassed by his poverty, turned the monk away, but his wife persuaded him to show mercy. When firewood had been used up, Tsuneyo removed beloved dwarf trees (bonsai) from their pots and burned them to provide warmth for his guest. Later, Tsuneyo's generous hospitality was rewarded with reinstatement, because the monk was really a high government official traveling in disguise. Until the late nineteenth century this painting remained in a family of theater musicians founded by Tsuruzawa Tomojiro (died 1747). The painting's vitality and detail suggest the passion for all types of theater performance during the Edo period (1615-1868).

• Provenance

  To 1898

  Edward S. Hull Jr., New York to 1898 [1]

  From 1898 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Edward S. Hull Jr. in 1898 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Reserved Screen List, R. 2, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Edward S. Hull Jr. was Ernest Francisco Fenollosa’s (1853-1908) lawyer. Hull often acted as an agent, facilitating purchases of objects consigned to him by Fenollosa, as well as purchases of objects consigned to him by Fenollosa's

  well-known associate, Bunshichi Kobayashi (see correspondence, Hull to Freer, 1898-1900, as well as invoices from E.S. Hull Jr., 1898-1900, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives). See also, Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), pgs. 15 and 34. See further, Thomas Lawton and Linda Merrill, Freer: A Legacy of Art, (Washington, DC and New York: Freer Gallery of Art and H. N. Abrams, 1993), pgs. 133-134.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Japanese Screens (March 2007 to January 3, 2016)

  Surveying the Collections: Poets and Parties (July 2, 2000 to February 4, 2001)

  Japanese Theatre in the Edo Period (July 22, 1985 to October 15, 1985)

  Japanese Lacquer (18 May 1980 to 15 June 1980)

  Japanese Ceramics/Puppets (June 16, 1980 to July 14, 1980)

  Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)

  Japanese Ukiyo-e Painting (May 2, 1973 to July 1, 1974)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 3 and 4 (February 25, 1956 to January 1, 1963)

  Untitled Exhibition, Japanese Screens and Scrolls, 1946 (April 30, 1946 to October 3, 1947)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Edward S. Hull Jr. (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Hull, Edward S., Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Theater, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Shamisen, Music, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Puppets, Japanese Art, Ukiyo-e, Musicians

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings