Hawks on Plum Trees

Soga Nichokuan is said to be the son of Soga Chokuan, the founder of Sakai Soga school. He was known as an expert in the illustration of falcons. In this work, falcons drawn in fine detail down to the designs on their feathers are arranged to face one another, perched atop the ends of plum tree branches extending from either end of the picture. The gold paint spread in the background gives the effect of a bright light and boundless atmosphere filling the picture. Concise, clear geometrical composition is a characteristic seen in many partition paintings from the Kan'ei period (1624-1644).