Bird with long tail feathers

Artists of the Kano school drew inspiration for subjects like this one from imported Chinese paintings. Perched atop a gnarled camellia tree branch, a long-tailed bird turns to look up to its right. This domesticated songbird, a kind of magpie, is called “ribbons” in Chinese, a reference to tail feathers that resemble the silk ribbons of official seals or medals in China. In contrast to the branch, which is rendered in ink with minute dots suggesting lichen, the bird and flowers are painted with rich mineral colors and a profusion of detail. Artists working for China’s imperial court used this style to mimic the forms of nature in as realistic a manner as possible: here, a sense of the bird’s sleek, plump form; the leaves’ smooth, curving shape; and the flowers’ rippled petals and stiff, upright stamen.