Chrysanthemum Scroll (1 results)

Scroll (385 x 8590 mm.), inner front endpaper with rich sprays of gold, outer side covered with silk having a repeating pattern of the chrysanthemum flower, wooden core roller. [Japan: late Edo]. The chrysanthemum came from China to Japan as a medicinal plant in the Nara period (710-93) and soon became revered in Japanese culture as a symbol of longevity and rejuvenation. From the Kamakura period (1192-1333) to this day, the chrysanthemum has been the emblem of the imperial family. The Imperial or National Seal of Japan is called the Chrysanthemum Seal (??, kikumon). In Japan, the flower has been the subject of selective breeding, precise cultivation, complex grafting, and creative pruning, allowing, for example, one plant to bear several hundred flowers. During the Edo period, there were frequent meetings and exhibitions centering on the chrysanthemum flower, called Kiku awase (matching contests) and Kiku taikai (exhibitions), reflecting a cultural obsession with the flower. Our fine scroll was artistically prepared for horticultural purposes. The accomplished artist has displayed 30 varieties of the chrysanthemum flower. For each variety, the artist has depicted the entire flower, a petal, and below, a printed leaf, using nature printing for the most part. The artist has described the appearance of each flower and petal, its quite poetic name, along with instructions for proper coloring and which materials to use in the pigments. In fine and fresh condition, preserved in a wooden box.