Calligraphic scroll on fine torinoko paper, attributed to Nakamura Kyūetsu, of the story “Mushi no uta awase” 虫の歌合 [“Poetry Match of Insects”], entitled, following the Preface, “Jūgo ban uta awase. Hanja hikigaeru” 十五番歌合. 判者 薮本蟇 [“15 Poetry Matches. Judged by a Toad”]

Scroll (277 x 7640 mm.), background decorations of flowers, butterflies, & birds in gold throughout, gold-speckled front endpaper, outside of endpaper covered with blue & gold silk brocade, wooden core roller. [Japan]: early Edo.


THE SCROLL & ITS CALLIGRAPHY: A beautifully written calligraphic scroll, attributed to Nakamura Kyūetsu, the noted calligrapher. He was a priest at Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in Yamashiro Province (in today’s Kyoto prefecture), where he studied calligraphy under the Shingon monk Shōkadō Shōjō (1584-1639), one of the three leading Kyoto calligraphers of the early 17th century. Later, Kyūetsu enjoyed (truncated) an active career as a master calligrapher of the Shōkadō School. In old age, it is said, Kyūetsu was invited to serve the Maeda household, the feudal lords of Kaga province (in today’s Ishikawa prefecture), and died between 1670 and 1680.


AUTHENTICATION: During the Edo period, the popularity of collecting calligraphic examples of past masters was at its height, and as a result, there was a high demand for calligraphy appraisers known as kohitsumi 古筆見 or kohitsu mekiki 古筆目利 (“appraiser” of antique writing). These appraisers were not determining values but preparing statements or assessments of the calligraphy of early manuscripts. By the particular style and quality of the writing, these appraisers attributed them to specific calligraphers or schools of calligraphy. Following the appraisal, a certificate of identification was made in several formats, such as an inscription on the box, a statement written at the end of the manuscript, or most commonly, a single oblong slip of paper known as a kiwamefuda. Present with our manuscript is a fine example of an inscription on the wooden box housing the scroll.


This manuscript has been credited to the hand of Kyūetsu. On the outside of the lid of the box containing our scroll, we find an inscription by Kohitsu Ryōchū 古筆了仲 (1656-1736), the seventh-generation member of the Kohitsu family of Kyoto, the most prestigious family of calligraphy appraisers/authenticators for several centuries. He was the official appraiser to the shogunate. It reads “Nakamura Kyūetsu Shinseki” 中村久越真跡 (“The Authentic Hand of Nakamura Kyūetsu”). On the inside of the lid, are two more inscriptions in the same hand, stating “Shiika ikkan 詩歌一巻. Kohitsu Ryōchū” (“Waka Poetry One Scroll. [Signed] Kohitsu Ryōchū, [with his signed kaō 花押]”).


We are unable to make a definitive judgment regarding the calligraphic handwriting and will leave that to scholars.


TEXT: In the late ninth century, a new kind of poetry competition developed in Japan: the utaawase. Themes were determined, and a poet chosen from each team wrote a waka (a poem) for each given theme. The host appointed a judge for each theme and gave points to the winning team. The team that received the largest number of points was the winner. At first, utaawase was simply a playful entertainment, but as the poetic tradition deepened and developed over the centuries, it turned into a serious aesthetic contest, with considerably more formality and many variations.


Poetry competitions have remained a popular activity in Japan and elsewhere and continue to the present day. In our scroll, known as “Mushi no uta awase” [“Poetry Match of Insects”], garden insects are allegorically cast as participants in the famous “Poetry Match of Immortal Poets,” in which matching pairs of poets (which could be people, paintings, shells, flowers, or, as in our case, insects) compete. The contest was judged by a poet of renown (in our case, a toad).


The lengthy Preface sets the stage for the match, which takes place on a late autumn evening in a moon-lit garden. In it, 30 species of insects pair up, beginning with the cricket that proposes the match and his opponent, a wasp. Among the other participants are a bell-cricket, a firefly, a cicada, a spider, a gold beetle, a fly, an ant, a mosquito, a flea, a louse, and in the broadest sense of the word mushi (which means “small crawly animal”), an earthworm.


In fine condition. Minor marginal worming.


❧ For a complete and excellent discussion of the authentication of calligraphic manuscripts, see Akiko Walley’s online “Tekagami & Kyōgire: The University of Oregon Japanese Calligraphy Collection.” For an account of the “Poetry Match of Insects,” see Miyeko Murase, Tales of Japan. Scrolls and Prints from The New York Public Library (1986), pp. 75-77. (Inventory #: 10806)