Group of Two Fish, One Showing Two Views, from the Shurin Tekagami (Illustrated Book of Fishes)
Other Titles
衆鱗手鑑 Shūrin tekagami
Abstract
The label on the right identifies two views of an aquatic animal as 奈麻古 Namako (腹背図・漢名 沙噀) (Japanese common sea cucumber; Apostichopus japonicus). The label on the left identifies the aquatic animal as 別種奈麻古 Besshu namako (Japanese common sea cucumber; Apostichopus japonicus).
Accession Number
C00.1649.16
Format
collages (visual works); watercolors (paintings)
Culture
Japanese (culture or style)
Genre
Animal art
Origin Information
Japan
Date
ca. 1762
Physical Description
1 collage ; 13 1/8 x 19 1/16 in. (33.3 x 48.4 cm), with frame: 17 x 80 3/4 in. (43.1 x 205.1 cm)
Note (Period)
Edo period
Note (Medium/support)
Ink and watercolor on paper, cut and applied with paste adhesive to mica paper, with handwritten labels in black ink on paper pasted to mica paper, the paper itself mounted overall to thin board at a later date
Note (Inscriptions/signatures)
Labels written in Japanese and Chinese characters identify each species of fish
Note (Ownership)
Gift of Bashford Dean
Note
Research suggests that these images come from an illustrated book of fish and aquatic animals (461 species) that was made and compiled by an unknown artist in the court of Yoritaka Matsudaira, the Lord of Takamatsu. Upon a request from the shogunate, the Shūrin Tekagami was compiled and donated to the 10th Shogunate, Ieharu Tokugawa, on January 29 of Hōreki 12 [i.e., February 22, 1762]. According to the curatorial file, Tōkichi Nishikawa (1874-1909), a government biologist in Japan, and Bashford Dean (1867-1928), Professor of Zoology at Columbia, may have worked together around the year 1900 to remove these original watercolors from their binding and frame them for hanging in Columbia's Biology Department. It had been assumed that Nishikawa was the creator of these watercolors until in 2008 Prof. Naohide Isono, Keio University, in cooperation with Dr. Sachie Noguchi, Columbia University Libraries, connected these works to the Shūrin Tekagami. Kazuo Sakamoto, Research Associate at the University Museum, University of Tokyo, provided all the English and scientific names. This work is framed with C00.1649.14, C00.1649.15, and C00.1649.17.
