Plum Tree and Waterfowl
A pair of water birds glide beneath the fragile branches of a plum tree in this work bearing the seals of Kano Masanobu, founder of the Kano school of painting, which dominated mainstream Japanese painting for four centuries. The plum tree’s delicate white blossoms and a tangle of drying reeds in the lower left corner are indicative of late winter. As with many other early Kano-school paintings in the bird-and-flower genre, each of the motifs is drawn with black ink outlines, while ink washes and accents are used to suggest the texture of the tree’s bark, to which malachite green lichens cling. The birds’ downy bodies are described with a meticulous application of shell white (gofun), the same pigment used for the petals of the plum blossoms.
Artwork Details
- 梅に水鳥図 (Ume ni mizutori zu)
- Title: Plum Tree and Waterfowl
- Artist: Attributed to Kano Masanobu 狩野正信 (Japanese, ca. 1434–ca. 1530)
- Period: Muromachi period (1392–1573)
- Date: early 16th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 26 1/2 × 17 1/8 in. (67.3 × 43.5 cm)
Overall with mounting: 68 1/4 × 22 in. (173.3 × 55.9 cm)
Overall with knobs: 68 1/4 × 24 in. (173.4 × 61 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2020
- Object Number: 2020.396.12
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Kano Masanobu 狩野正信
late 15th century
Kano Masanobu 狩野正信
late 15th century
Sesson Shūkei
ca. 1555–61
Uto Gyoshi
mid- to late 16th century
Sesson Shūkei
1550s
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.