Shōreisai 松嶺斎 (?-?) , Pine, Bamboo, Plum, Crane, Tortoise, and Lingzhi Mushroom, Japanese hanging scroll, Edo Period, kakejiku

Art work details

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This scroll dates from the Edo period and features two separate scrolls depicting traditional Japanese celebratory themes.

The best thing about this scroll is that it allows you to experience the art of the Edo Kano school. The artist's details are unclear, but the artist's style is that of a student of the Kano school.

It was hung in the alcove at the time for New Year's and other celebratory events.
Its short length comes from the low ceilings of alcoves in the Edo period.

The painting inside, the scroll end, and the box are all the same as they were at the time.
Unfortunately, the rest of the mounting has been reworked in later years, and it has lost some of its charm.
The original owner must have been concerned about the damaged mounting and had it remounted (after 1920).
Thanks to this, the stains in the painting have been removed and the wrinkles have been smoothed out nicely, but it cannot be denied that the ink and paint will become slightly diluted in the process of disassembling and washing the scroll. (Of course, the colors have been fixed to prevent fading.)
The navy blue silk with gold peony embroidery is a pattern often used in old Kano school mountings, and it seems that the mounters of the time used a similar pattern in an attempt to retain the atmosphere of the Edo period. If you were to have something mounted like this today, it would be very expensive and difficult to order.

This is a work that I would recommend to anyone looking for a Kano school painter, even if he is not famous.

An explanation of the title is as follows:

Shōchikubai (松竹梅): Pine, Bamboo, and Plum
　→ “The Three Friends of Winter” — auspicious symbols that endure even in winter, representing three noble plants.

Tsurukame or Kakuki (鶴亀): Crane and Tortoise
　→ Symbolic animals representing longevity and good fortune.

Reishi (霊芝): Lingzhi mushroom
　→ A sacred herb known as an elixir of immortality; a symbol of longevity, auspiciousness, and mystery.

Setting weight
This piece weighs 1.5 kg and will be shipped in 80 size.

Material
Japanese pigments on silk

Size ＊The size of each piece.
Overall: vertical 193㎝ × width 44.3㎝（75.98 in × 17.44 in）＊width does not include roller ends.
(the work: vertical 108.7㎝ × width 40.3㎝（42.80 in × 15.87 in）)

Condition
・There are some burns, stains on the Japanese paper on the back of the cover.
・There are some burns, stains on the image.
・There are some wrinkles, warp in the mounting.
・It has been re-mounted several decades ago.

Remarks
・Roller ends is Bone.
・Box inscription by the original owner of the work.

Materials for mounting
All of them are made of silk.

Other
There is a note about shipping restrictions and VAT. Please check before purchase.
There may be a slight difference in color between the photo and the actual product.

Notes on shipping
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Biography
The details of the artist are unknown. However, it is believed that the artist belonged to the school of Yoshihiro Imamura (1653–1726), a painter of the Kano school who was active during the Edo period under the art name Shōreisai in the Tōyo region (present-day eastern Ehime Prefecture).
The style of this work is also characteristic of the Kano school, and since the seal contains the character “義” (“Yoshi”), written in the same kanji as used by the Imamura family, it is considered likely that the artist was either Imamura himself or a follower of his school.