Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

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Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum

A catalogue of the Ashmolean's collection of Japanese paintings by Janice Katz (published Oxford, 2003).

Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum by Janice Katz

Publications online: 43 objects

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Blowfish and spring onion

  • Literature notes

    Little is known of the artist Ganhi (Hirowatari Gi or Koshū). In the Koga bikō he is mentioned as a pupil of Kumashiro Yūhi from whom he takes the character ‘hi’ in his name [Asaoka, Zotei koga bikō, 2177]. Thus he was part of the Chinese artist Shen Nanpin's legacy which thrived in Nagasaki in the eighteenth century. Beginning with Hirowatari Ikko (1644-1702) who was to gain the most prominence among them, a few generations of artists in Nagasaki carried the surname Hirowatari. According to records in the Chōshoji temple, Ganhi and his ancestors held the local post of Chinese paintings connoisseur (kara-e mekiki) [Chōshōji kakochō, included in Kyoto National Museum, Nagasaki-ha Shasei Nanshū meiga sen (Kyoto: Benridō, 1939), 116-7].

    This delightful fan painting rendered in sparse colours focuses on the satirical appearance of this rather odd subject matter. The ankō, also known as the frogfish for obvious reasons, totters clumsily, bulbous stomach-side up, awaiting his fate. This unusual-looking fish is actually a delicacy in Japan. Here it is paired with a spring onion, no doubt both are soon to be ingredients in a special, celebratory dish.

    The Nagasaki school’s founder, Shen Nanpin, stayed in Japan for only two years, though his impact on Edo period painting throughout Japan was profound. He excelled in realistic images of birds, animals and flowers, though the compositions were often highly decorative. The abbreviated description of the fish and infusion of the comic into this painting are not characteristic of the stylistic legacy Ganhi inherited.
  • Details

    Associated place
    AsiaJapanKyūshūNagasaki prefecture Nagasaki (place of creation)
    Date
    1766 - 1820
    Artist/maker
    Hirowatari Gi (1766 - 1820) (artist)
    Nanpin School (active 1731 - 19th century)
    Material and technique
    ink and colour on paper
    Dimensions
    mount 40.5 x 55.5 cm (height x width)
    painting 24.5 x 51.7 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Purchased with the assistance of the Friends of the Ashmolean, and Mr and Mrs J. Hillier, 1973.
    Accession no.
    EA1973.66
  • Further reading

    Katz, Janice, Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, with an introductory essay by Oliver Impey (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2003), no. 15 on p. 74, p. 39, illus. pp. 74-75

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum by Janice Katz

    Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum

    Little is known of the artist Ganhi (Hirowatari Gi or Koshū). In the Koga bikō he is mentioned as a pupil of Kumashiro Yūhi from whom he takes the character ‘hi’ in his name [Asaoka, Zotei koga bikō, 2177]. Thus he was part of the Chinese artist Shen Nanpin's legacy which thrived in Nagasaki in the eighteenth century. Beginning with Hirowatari Ikko (1644-1702) who was to gain the most prominence among them, a few generations of artists in Nagasaki carried the surname Hirowatari. According to records in the Chōshoji temple, Ganhi and his ancestors held the local post of Chinese paintings connoisseur (kara-e mekiki) [Chōshōji kakochō, included in Kyoto National Museum, Nagasaki-ha Shasei Nanshū meiga sen (Kyoto: Benridō, 1939), 116-7].

    This delightful fan painting rendered in sparse colours focuses on the satirical appearance of this rather odd subject matter. The ankō, also known as the frogfish for obvious reasons, totters clumsily, bulbous stomach-side up, awaiting his fate. This unusual-looking fish is actually a delicacy in Japan. Here it is paired with a spring onion, no doubt both are soon to be ingredients in a special, celebratory dish.

    The Nagasaki school’s founder, Shen Nanpin, stayed in Japan for only two years, though his impact on Edo period painting throughout Japan was profound. He excelled in realistic images of birds, animals and flowers, though the compositions were often highly decorative. The abbreviated description of the fish and infusion of the comic into this painting are not characteristic of the stylistic legacy Ganhi inherited.
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