Anonymous, Bridge and Willow Trees, Momoyama – Edo period, early 17th century | 柳橋水車図屏風　桃山〜江戶時代　17世紀初頭

Kajo Shofu III (Choshoan, 1878-1928), Kyoto.

Shofu Choshoan iaihin mokuroku [Catalogue of Treasured Items from Shofu Choshoan], Kyoto Art Club, Kyoto, 21 January 1929, Lot 87.

A Japanese private collection.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo. 

Rimpa meihinten [Rimpa: The Debut of Essential Rimpa Masterpieces in the Okada Museum of Art Collection], Mitsukoshi (Nihonbashi), Tokyo, 2015, cat. no 3.

Kacho fugetsu meiga de miru Nihon no shiki [The Beauty of Nature: The Four Seasons of Japan Seen Through Master Paintings], Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2022, exh. no. 25 (unillustrated).

Kinbyoubu no saiten ogon no sekai-e yokoso [Golden Screens], Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2023, exh. no. 2-5 (unillustrated).

Kobayashi Tadashi ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 2, Tokyo, 2019, p. 96-97, no. 53.

Sweeping from the lower right to the upper left, a golden bridge extends diagonally across this pair of six-panel screens. Stone-filled baskets, a waterwheel and a rice paddy line the embankment, while mist and clouds of cut gold leaf frame the view in yet more shimmering gold. The gently lapping waves are rendered in silver pigment and would have once shone brightly. Seasonal progression is suggested through three willow trees placed at the right, centre, and left. The small, delicate leaves of the right and centre trees suggest spring, while the fuller foliage of the left-hand willow denotes summer growth. The fronds of the leftmost willow above the rice fields appears tousled by a strong wind, subtly animating the otherwise still composition. Moss and lichen on the willow bark and rockwork further enliven the natural elements in the scene.

These works exemplify a compositional type popular during the Momoyama (1573-1615) and early Edo periods (1615-1868). There are at least twenty examples of Uji Bridge screens known to be extant and they are typically associated with the Hasegawa school of painters. While most feature minor variations in detail or quality, the motif of bridges, willow trees, irrigation wheels and stone-filled baskets are consistent. This pair of screens follows the Hasegawa school convention but is distinctive for including rice fields and semi-circular rockwork. Gold leaf, gold pigment (powdered gold mixed with animal glue), finely cut gold foil, and granulated gold have been applied extensively. Three-dimensionality was achieved on the bridge girders, guardrails, gabions (bamboo cages filled with stones), and waterwheel through layers of gofun (shell-white pigment) beneath the gold.

Traditionally, such screens have been interpreted as depicting the Uji River, a scenic waterway originating in Lake Biwa and flowing south past Kyoto to Osaka Bay. The bridge itself was said to have been constructed as early as 646. The Uji region was celebrated in waka poetry and classical literature, including the final chapters of Murasaki Shikibu’s twelfth century novel The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari), where autumnal episodes often feature similar imagery of bridges, willows, baskets, and waterwheels.

More recent scholarship has suggested alternative possible readings of the iconography stemming from waka poetry and Noh theatre, as well as the Buddhist overtones associated with the locale and the symbolic role of the bridge as a connection between this world and the next. Reflecting these broader interpretations, some publications title these works simply Bridge and Willow Trees.

For comparison, there is a pair of early seventeenth century screens depicting the same subject in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET), accession numbers 2015.300.105.1–2, go to:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53241. 

來源

三代目 松風嘉定 （號聽松庵， 1878 - 1928年），京都

京都美術倶楽部, 《松風聴松庵遺愛品目録》, 1929年1月21日, 編號87. 

日本私人收藏

壺中居，東京

展覽

《琳派名品展》，三越（日本橋），東京，2015年，編號3

《花鳥風月 名画で見る日本の四季》，岡田美術館，箱根，2022年，展覽編號25 （沒載圖）

《金屏風の祭典一黄金の世界へようこそ 》，岡田美術館，箱根， 2023年，展覽編號2-5 （沒載圖）

出版

小林忠編，《岡田美術館名品撰》，卷2，東京，2019年，頁96-97，編號53

一彎金色長橋自右下向左上斜貫此對六曲屏風，堤岸邊羅列竹編石籠、水車與稻田，其間霧靄與雲霞皆以切金箔技法呈現，於金光璀璨間構築視覺框架。輕漾水波以銀彩描繪，昔日應是流光璀璨。三株垂柳分置右、中、左三側，暗喻時序流轉：右側與中央柳樹細葉初萌，暗示春日景緻；左側柳枝則葉叢繁茂，標誌夏日生機。稻田上方最左側柳絲因強風拂動而翩然飛揚，為原本靜謐的構圖巧妙賦予動感。柳幹石組間點綴的苔蘚地衣，更為自然景物增添盎然生趣。

此作屬桃山時代（1573-1615年）至江戶初期（1615-1868年）廣受歡迎的構圖類型。目前已知存世宇治橋屏風至少二十例，多與長谷川派畫系相關。雖各作在細節與品質上略有差異，但長橋、垂柳、灌溉水車與石籠等核心紋樣始終如一。此對屏風雖承襲長谷川派傳統，卻以稻田與半圓形石組之獨特構圖與眾不同。

藝術家於橋樑桁架、欄杆、石籠及水車等處，先以胡粉（貝殼白顏料）打底營造立體感，繼而施以金箔、金彩（金粉調和動物膠）、細切金箔與灑金粉等技法，形成豐富層次。傳統解讀多認為此類屏風描繪源自琵琶湖、南流經京都至大阪灣的宇治川風光。據傳該橋最早建於646年。宇治風光屢見於和歌與《源氏物語》等古典文學，其中秋日篇章常出現橋樑、垂柳、石籠與水車等意象，向為文人詠歎對象。

晚近研究則提出源自和歌與能劇的另類圖像解讀，包括該地蘊含的佛教意涵，以及橋樑作為此岸與彼岸連結的象徵意義。呼應此詮釋脈絡，部分出版品將此類作品簡稱為《橋柳圖》。

可資比對者，紐約大都會藝術博物館藏有十七世紀初同名屏風，典藏編號2015.300.105.1–2，詳見：https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53241