Design of Plum Tree for Box

The Ogata Korin Materials are a set of documents, sketches, and copybooks related to the artist Ogata Korin’s birth family and their Kariganeya textile shop. The materials include preparatory drawings and copy sketches by Korin and his preparatory sketches and plans for the decorative arts. These works are not only vital for the study of Korin, they are also important materials in the study of a wide array of fields, from the history of the decorative arts of lacquer and textiles to the history of calligraphy, the performing arts, and economics.
The flowing elegance of the brushwork on this preparatory sketch for a folding screen depicting cranes and pine trees has been lightly colored and exudes Korin’s particularly chic sensibilities. The sketch, seen at cat. no. 81, for a makie lacquer box with stylized plum blossom motif reveals his superb abilities as a designer.