A poem-composing contest among various artisans 職人歌合絵巻

Object Details

• Description

  A poem-composing contest among various artisans. Nine inscriptions. One certificate. Inscription in gold on box.

• Label

  One autumn evening in 1214, a group of believers gathered for prayer at Tohoku-in, a temple in Kyoto, according to introductory text in this scroll. Seduced by the beauty of the moon, they soon turned their gathering into a poetry contest (uta awase), composing linked verse on the theme of love and the moon. This painting is based on an earlier, well-known version produced in the early fourteenth century.

  The participants were people from the common trades (shokunin). The shokunin uta awase derived its humor from casting commoners in aristocratic roles and offered multi-leveled satire on class pretensions. Six sequences feature verses exchanged between a fortune-teller and physician; smith and carpenter; sword sharpener and caster; female fortune-teller and gambler; fisherman and merchant and finally, a picture mounter serving as contest judge.

• Provenance

  To 1906

  Hara Tomitaro, Yokohama, Japan, to 1906 [1]

  From 1906 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), given by Hara Tomitaro in 1906 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Makimono List, L. 931, pg. 304, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [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

  Games, Contests and Artful Play in Japan (March 19 to October 23, 2005)

  Telling Tales in Japanese Art (November 23, 1996 to August 14, 1997)

  Japanese Art, Galleries 3, 4, and 5 (January 1, 1963 to September 16, 1970)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hara Tomitaro (1868-1939) (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)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1300s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Tomitaro, Hara

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Japanese Art, Nanbokucho period (1333 - 1392), Poetry, Makimono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings