Egrets in Snow

Among the works created by Hôitsu during his 60s, there is a group of flowers and birds of the 12-months paintings based on the waka poems Birds and Flowers of the Months by the Kamakura period poet Fujiwara no Teika. The Yamatane collection includes these two works from a series of bird and flower paintings created by Hôitsu and inscribed by Kameda Ryôrai (1778–1853), a Chinese studies scholar and son of Hôitsu's friend Kameda Bôsai. Originally these two works were two of the images pasted onto a set of folding screens with attached images. No. 6, which is the 9th month (September) image from the set, shows the chrysanthemums affiliated with the Chrysanthemum Festival celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month, combined with an azure flycatcher on the stem of the chrysanthemum seen from the back. No. 7 is the work for the 11th month (November), combining a pair of egrets with reeds, and powdery snow accumulated on small chrysanthemums and reed fronds. The strictly regular calligraphy seen in the inscriptions above heighten the formality and tone of the two scrolls.