Tethered Hawks
Hawks tethered to their perches, awaiting release by their masters, symbolize military preparedness and valor. Their fearsome beauty and predatory features—sharp beaks, keen eyes, long curving talons—made them metaphors of martial training and the warrior spirit. The artist Soga Chokuan, renowned for his hawk paintings, received many commissions from leading samurai for either individual paintings or sets of tethered hawk images painted individually and pasted onto folding screens.
This set is inscribed by Ittō Jōteki, one of the foremost Zen figures of his time. He eventually served as the 152nd abbot of Daitokuji in Kyoto, the most influential Zen temple in medieval Japan.
This set is inscribed by Ittō Jōteki, one of the foremost Zen figures of his time. He eventually served as the 152nd abbot of Daitokuji in Kyoto, the most influential Zen temple in medieval Japan.
Artwork Details
- 曽我直庵筆 架鷹図押絵貼屏風
- Title: Tethered Hawks
- Artist: Soga Chokuan (Japanese, active ca. 1596–1615)
- Artist: Inscriptions by Ittō Jōteki (Shōteki) (Japanese, 1533–1606)
- Period: Momoyama period (1573–1615)
- Date: before 1606
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Twelve paintings mounted as a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Overall (each screen incl. frame): 68 3/8 in. × 11 ft. 10 3/8 in. (173.7 × 361.7 cm)
Image (outer two panels, each screen): 48 1/2 × 19 5/8 in. (123.2 × 49.8 cm)
Image (inner four panels, each screen): 48 1/2 × 20 1/2 in. (123.2 × 52.1 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Mary and James G. Wallach Foundation Gift, 2018
- Object Number: 2018.449.1, .2
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Soga Chokuan
late 18th–early 19th century
Soga Chokuan
probably 19th century
Ike no Taiga
ca. 1763
Sesson Shūkei 雪村周継
ca. 1570
Japan
early 17th century
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