(Adapted from "Legend in Japan: Art from the Boone Collection of the Field Museum of Natural History", by Elizabeth Lillehoj, 1991, with amendations by Elizabeth Lillehoj )
Writing on Water
Artist unknown
Edo Period, 17th or 18th century
Ink and color on silk
54.5 x 35.5cm
Cat: 265990
© The Field Museum
Writing on Water is a scene taken from episode 50 of the Ise Monogatari (Tales of Ise), a masterpiece of Japanese literature. The episode begins with a poem by an unidentified man, who responds to his lover's reproaches. In an ensuing exchange of poems, the man and woman lament each other's infidelities. The fourth poem, by the lady, is illustrated in this hanging scroll. The painting shows a refined court lady holding a brush daintily in her hand, leaning toward a meandering stream as though preparing to write on water. At the right side of the hanging scroll is the poem, which reads:
To love
Unloved
Is more futile
Than to write
On a flowing stream.
(translated by Helen Craig McCullough, Tales of Ise, p 104)
The woman wears voluminous gowns, consisting of layer upon layer of colorful garments. Her long straight hair and high eyebrows are in keeping with the Heian Period (A.D. 794-1185) standard of feminine beauty.
With no artist's signature or seal, and no accompanying documents, the painter and date of Writing on Water remain uncertain. Based on the style of painting, however, it can be assigned to a Kano school artist of the late 17th or early 18th century.