Page 232 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

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138 Studies of insects, amphibians, and Masuyama Sessai in his private life
fish was a student of Chinese herbal medicine
Masuyama Sessai (1754-1819) and a painter of considerable talent in-
four albums; ink and color on paper spired by Chinese Ming and Qing paint-
each 21.8 x 29.9 (Ss/s x ii3/ 4) ings. He was interested in natural history,
Edo period, 1808 a field first explored by Hiraga Gennai
(1728-1779), also a student of herbal medi-
Tokyo National Museum
cine, and by Satake Shozan (cats. 136,137),
Contained in these four albums are pages the daimyo of the domain of Akita in the
of finished studies of insects, amphibians, north and one the harbingers of Western-
fish, and other small creatures that inhabit style painting. Sessai was especially impor-
the natural world, pages of which ten are tant as a patron of such artists as Kimura
illustrated here. These discerning studies Kenkado (1736-1802) and Kuwayama
were made by Masuyama Sessai, the artis- Gyokushu (1746-1799), who painted in the
tic daimyo of the domain of Nagashima in style of Chinese scholar-amateurs. YS
Ise Province (part of Mie Prefecture).
Each study is inscribed meticulously, re-
cording the name of each species and
where, when, and by whom it was col-
lected. Some insects are viewed from
three angles. The finished works are
grouped and mounted according to the
months in which they were collected, and
the four albums are divided according to
the four seasons, butterflies of the spring
in album one; dragonflies of the summer
in album two, and so forth.

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