Kansetsu Hashimoto - Myna Bird in Snow (雪中哥鳥)
Kansetsu Hashimoto - Myna Bird in Snow (雪中哥鳥)
| Artist | Kansetsu Hashimoto (Japan, 1883-1945) |
| Year | Undated |
| Materials | Ink and color on silk |
| Size | (H)35.0cm, (W)41.8cm. |
| Framed Size | (H)141.0cm, (W)61.8cm |
| Rarity | Unique |
| Medium | Painting |
| Signature | Signed Kansetsu in ink at lower right, with a red oval seal beneath. The wood box is also titled, signed and sealed by the artist. |
| Condition and Authenticity | Minute foxing spots overall; crease marks above and below the bird; a faint dark line at lower center. Mounting has creases and a stain. This artwork does not include a certificate of authenticity, but it retains its wood box titled, signed and sealed by the artist, housed in an outer double box. |
| Provenance | Auction in Japan |
| Frame | Traditional hanging scroll mounting with ivory roller ends. Creases at the upper right and upper left, and a stain at the upper left of the mounting silk. |
A single crested myna perches among snow-laden plum branches. Kansetsu Hashimoto renders the bird in dense, saturated ink, picking out the white wing patches, the yellow bill and the pale-ringed eye with a few precise lines drawn from his Shijo-school training in direct observation, while the snow itself is left almost undrawn, suggested only by soft grey washes and the bare silk ground. Scattered crimson plum blossoms supply the single warm accent, bringing life to an otherwise near-monochrome winter scene. The myna is a classical Chinese painting subject, and its choice here reflects the artist's lifelong study of Chinese classics and his repeated journeys to China from 1913, which shaped the naturalistic manner he called new Nanga. Authentication evidence is unusually complete for a work of this scale: the ink signature and the oval relief seal sit at the lower right of the silk, the lid of the original wood storage box carries the title in the artist's brushwork, and the inside of the same box bears his signature and red seal. The box is further protected by an outer case.