Page 90 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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28 Yamatoe style. The use of materials therefore both a real and a poetic
Ogata Kórin (1658-1716) and the abstraction of the individual space. Kórin captures this feeling
Writing box with design illustrating poem design elements, however, are com- with the abstraction of the water in a
of courtier crossing the Sano Riuer pletely fresh and reveal Kórin's strong play of marbleized ink (suminagashi)
sense of two-dimensional patterning. represented in metals and lacquer.
Lacquer with gold, silver,
mother-of-pearl, and lead The image of a man on horseback A scene based on the same poem was
7
22.4X20.9(8 /8X8V 4 ) shielding himself from the elements painted by the school of Tawaraya
The Gotoh Museum, Tokyo as he starts to cross a river is a direct Sótatsu (Cleveland Museum of Art).
reference to a poem by Fujiwara no Kôrin himself painted a similar ver-
• This writing box, probably designed Teika (1162 -1241): "There is no shelter sion on a hanging scroll in 1711 or 1712
by Kôrin toward the end of his life, in which to rest my horse or / brush (Museum of Art, Shizuoka). NCR
takes the classic form, with a flat- the snow from my sleeves / at Sano
tened top and squared edges. Simi- crossing on this snowy night." The
larly, the motif for the cover design poem alludes to a ford in the Sano
comes from classical literature and River (in current Tochigi Prefecture)
is portrayed in the native Japanese that was on an established route
for pilgrims traveling to the Kumano
shrine. Teika's work is based on an
earlier poem in the Man'yoshu (book 3,
number 365). The Sano crossing is