Ceramic Tiles with Waka Poem Designs

  • Kyoto
  • Edo period
  • 18c
  • D-19 W-19.5
  •  
    Formerly in the collection of Inoue Kaoru
Ceramic Tiles with Waka Poem Designs (Set of 8)

Ceramic Tiles with Waka Poem Designs (Set of 8)
Formerly in the collection of Inoue Kaoru
Kenzan has treated these tiles as decorated calligraphy paper, providing a painting to suit the meaning of his chosen poem, and then the waka or Japanese poem written in a decorative manner, scattering the syllables. The Yamato-e style paintings and the waka are a effective combination, skillfully composed. While there are several established ways of scattering poems, Kenzan's was to arrange them so that they worked effectively with the painting’s white space. By utilizing the effect of white space, as in Zen paintings, he was able to create an overall balance. These tiles are from the former Inoue Kaoru collection; their wrapper has "bird painting mounting" written on it. It is said that they were originally imbedded in a furosaki folding screen, a short two-panel screen used in the tea ceremony.