Autumn Flowers in a Bamboo Basket

1760s

Not on view

An informal bouquet of autumn flowers stands in a tall Chinese-style bamboo basket with an elegant rounded handle. Chrysanthemums (kiku), Chinese bellflowers (kikyō), and rose mallows (fuyō) are all associated in traditional Japanese poetry with autumn, their season of full bloom. The Nanga-school artist Yosa Buson styles himself “Chōkō” in his signature, indicating that he painted this in his mid- to late forties. He used a technique for rendering the flowers called sumi-nijimi, or “ink blurring,” in which the artist applies brushstrokes to the surface of ink washes before they have dried, creating an evocative, soft texturing effect. This contrasts with the short horizontal strokes in dark ink used to convey the texture of the plaited bamboo.

Artwork Details

与謝蕪村筆秋草花竹籃図
Title: Autumn Flowers in a Bamboo Basket
Artist: Yosa Buson (Japanese, 1716–1783)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1760s
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: Image: 84 1/4 in. × 11 in. (214 × 27.9 cm)
Overall with mounting: 73 3/4 × 15 1/2 in. (187.3 × 39.4 cm)
Overall with knobs: 73 3/4 × 17 5/8 in. (187.3 × 44.8 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2015
Object Number: 2015.500.9.18
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Yosa Buson

In the same medium

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Scene from The Narrow Road to the Deep North

, Yosa Buson Japanese, Folding fan mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan — Scene from The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Yosa Buson
ca. 1780

Woman Burning Incense, Yosa Buson Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan — Woman Burning Incense
Yosa Buson
18th century

Rocks, Yosa Buson Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan — Rocks
Yosa Buson
late 18th century

Birds in Willows and Blossoming Peach Tree, Yosa Buson Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan — Birds in Willows and Blossoming Peach Tree
Yosa Buson
ca. 1760s

Visiting the Thatched Cottage in the Bamboo Grove, Yosa Buson Japanese, Two-panel folding screen; ink and color on paper, Japan — Visiting the Thatched Cottage in the Bamboo Grove
Yosa Buson
ca. 1772–80

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