Otagaki Rengetsu | Tanzaku
Golden pine seedlings brushed on this brown-reddish textile mounting make this Tanzaku strip an outstandingly unusual, unique and rare artistic composition.
As it has for 10,000 ages
the onset of spring
brings singing
to these sacred isles
the people of Yamato.
In her poem Otagaki Rengetsu talks about old tradition, new spring and the legendary people Yamato. And the decoration on the mounting (done by an unidentified artist, collector or connoisseur) picks up Rengetsu's words and transforms them into a simple image which refers to the old Shinto spring ritual of planting pine seedlings on shrine grounds.
Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875)
Poem slip (tanzaku)
Ink on paper
36 x 6 cm (14 x 2¼ in.)
Mounting 146 x 24 cm (57½ x 9½ in.)
Modern wooden box
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