Painting

A bush warbler (uguisu) on a prunus tree branch. Hanging scroll without mounting. Ink and colour on paper. Artefacts or pictorial art such as paintings or calligraphy are customarily placed in the tea room alcove (tokonoma) together with a simple floral arrangement (chabana). The tranquil, austere pictoures by Shōkadō Shōjō (1584-1639) were deemed suitable for hanging in the alcove during the tea ceremony. The nightingale motif, like the prunus flower, symbolises the approach of spring. Shōkadō Shōjō was a painter and calligrapher, known as one of "the Three Brushes", i.e. famous artist and calligraphers, of the Kan´ei era (1624-1643). Shōjō was also a priest at a temple of esoteric Buddhism southwest of Kyoto. In addition, he wrote waka poetry (31 syllables) and was himself a tea master. Shōjō associated with the country´s uppermost cultural and political élite. He was in many ways a typical polymathc representative of the "tea people" of his time. (Japan. Föremål och bilder, s. 137)