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introduction). Both Ninsei and Ogata Kenzan sometimes injected exotic, foreign
motifs into their ceramics, such as the blue­and­white Dutch patterning seen
on the exterior of a square­rimmed dish by Kenzan, which intentionally con­

trasts with the colorful spring flowers on the interior (cat. 82). Kenzan earned
particular acclaim for the expressiveness of some of his ceramics, such as ostenta­
tious kawarake (originally plain stoneware dishes made for ritual offerings) with

various flower and seasonal motifs highlighted in gold leaf (cat. 81). The lavish
treatment of these wares seems doubly extravagant when we learn that they were
considered disposable and routinely thrown out after banquets.
Kenzan occasionally tested his skills as a painter, as in his admirable copy of
his older brother Kōrin’s composition Plum Tree and Hollyhocks (see cat. 61).

Although painting was not his forte, there is an artless, rugged energy to Kenzan’s
paintings on paper that effectively complements his idiosyncratic, expressive
calligraphy. His album leaf of trailing ivy leaves (cat. 83), for example, recalls in

crimson glory the famous episode from The Ise Stories in which the protagonist
encounters an itinerant monk along an ivy­strewn path of Mount Utsu (see cats. 1,
2). Another episode of The Ise Stories was the inspiration for Kōrin’s masterwork
Irises at Yatsuhashi (Eight Bridges) (cat. 84). In the story, the unnamed protagonist
and his comrades come to an iris marsh traversed by eight bridges. A love poem

is then recited that incorporates the syllables of the word kakitsubata (irises) into
the beginning of each line. Traditional depictions of the episode show courtiers
seated by a marsh of irises in bloom, but Kōrin distilled the scene to just the

flowers and a long plank bridge. Despite the abbreviation, the literary underpin­
ning of the painting’s dramatic arrangement in deep blue and green would have
been instantly recognizable to any literate viewer at the time.
Among the artists responsible for transmitting the Kōrin style in the nine­
teenth century, Nakamura Hōchū stands out. Well regarded as a poet in his

own right, Hōchū also illustrated numerous poetry anthologies, borrowing
motifs and styles from the Rinpa repertoire and recasting them in a decorative,
often witty manner. Hōchū’s screens with the flowers of the twelve months

(cat. 87) exemplify his playful approach, use of bold, vivid colors, and mastery
of the tarashikomi technique. designing nature
Another characteristic of later Rinpa works is that representations of plants
and floral themes became more naturalistic as well as botanically accurate, as in

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