Kakemono Plum Branches and Camellia in a Wooden Pail

Blossoming plum branches, placed together with a green bamboo stick in a wooden pail with a handle (oke) and hoops, with a red camellia in front – in Japanese painting, this motif has always stood for the arrival of spring and the quiet power inherent in new beginnings.

The hanging scroll bears the signature and seal of Yawata Hakuhan and shows the reduced pictorial language typical of ume painting: a few branches set down with a confident brushstroke, interspersed with delicately dabbed blossoms in shades of white and pink. The wooden pail, by contrast, is painted broadly and in detail, and at the lower right a red camellia with dark leaves adds a strong accent of color; the box inscription 八幡白帆画 梅椿之図 names the picture “Plum and Camellia”.

The painting comes with its own wooden box, of the kind customary for the storage of high-quality kakemono. It protects the painting from light and moisture and makes storage easier when the hanging scroll is not hung. With its calm, unobtrusive composition, this work is particularly suited to the tokonoma during the winter months or at the turn of the year, when the plum blossom is traditionally regarded as the first herald of spring.