Still life with fish, peach blossoms and birds

Object Details

• Artist

  Taki Katei 瀧和亭 (1830-1901)

• Description

  A cornucopia-of-the-sea and still-life study of fresh catch arranged with flora in which fish and feather cavort around the axis of the flowering peach branch.

• Inscriptions

  1. (Jim Ulak, 20 June 1995) Signed: Painted at Kokosodo by Katei

  Sealed: Shichoku Katei (round relief)

• Label

  An assortment of fish and other sea animals, a branch of blossoming peach, and birds are arranged in this painting as if it were a still life. The scene comes to life, however, with the image of an inverted flying fish and soaring birds. In this witty and lighthearted painting, the artist Taki Katei expresses his mastery of flower-and-bird painting, a subject for which he was well known. The style of this work reflects the artist's knowledge of the style of the Shijo school, centered in Kyoto. Katei's expertise in the practice and connoisseurship of painting and his interest in fostering the art during the Meiji era led to his appointment as an Imperial Household Artist (Teishitsu gigeiin).

• Provenance

  To 1995

  Andreas Leisinger, Zushi, Japan, to 1995

  From 1995

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Andreas Leisinger in 1995

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Arts of Japan (July 14, 2012 to January 13, 2013)

  Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)

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

  Japanese Art of the Meiji Era (September 20, 1997 to April 26, 1998)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Andreas Leisinger

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1910s, 1860s

• Name

  Leisinger, Andreas

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Animals, Ivory, Fishes, Japanese Art, Birds, Flowers, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings, Still lifes