Kakemono White Plum Tree with Poem

Not every beautiful hanging scroll has to be one of a kind. This screen print on silk from the Shōwa period reproduces a composition bearing the signature and seal of Katsushika Hokusai in rich detail, making a classic spring motif available at a very accessible price.

An old plum tree draws its gnarled, rough trunk across the picture, and from it grow straight, slender twigs with white blossoms and round buds. Beside it stand the lines of a poem in flowing, pale grey script, so that image and text interlock. In Japan the plum blossom opens the flowering year; Hokusai depicted it in his Surimono prints, among other works.

The print is mounted in grey-brown brocade with a light silk strip; the jikusaki are made of plastic. The wooden box bears the inscription “Hakubai-zu”, picture of the white plum tree. As a seasonal scroll it is particularly suited to the weeks between late January and March – a quiet opening to the year that alternates well with snow or bamboo motifs.