Harvard Art Museums > 2022.447: Painted Lantern Lighting Devices Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Painted Lantern (Matsumura Keibun 松村景文) , 2022.447,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 22, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/340462. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2022.447 People Matsumura Keibun 松村景文, Japanese (1779 - 1843) Title Painted Lantern Classification Lighting Devices Work Type lighting device Date first half 19th century Places Creation Place: East Asia, Japan Period Edo period, 1615-1868 Culture Japanese Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/340462 Physical Descriptions Medium Wood frame; ink and color on silk Dimensions H. 79.5 cm (31 5/16 in.) W. 29.9 cm (11 3/4 in.) D. 30.2 cm (11 7/8 in.) Inscriptions and Marks signature: of artist; in red: 景文 [Keibun] seal: of artist; square, intaglio: 景文之印 [Keibun no in] Provenance Recorded Ownership History [Gallery Hosomi Kokan, Tokyo (by 1987)], sold; to Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg, Bethesda, MD (1987-2022), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2022. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg Accession Year 2022 Object Number 2022.447 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description The delicate silk surfaces collectively bear a continuous composition that unfurls around the lantern to show two small birds, likely Java sparrows (bunchō), alighting on the blooming branches of a blue lace-cap hydrangea. This work showcases Keibun’s particular talent for charming and meticulously rendered bird-and-flower subjects. One of the panels can be lifted to allow access to the lantern’s interior cavity, which contains a recessed area in which a light source can be placed. Originally, the lantern was designed to hold a small metal dish for oil or a candle; the Feinbergs modified the lantern to accommodate an electric bulb. (A drawer in the base was perhaps intended to hold supplies.) Once lit, the flickering of the flame inside would have provided additional suggestive dynamism to the fitful movements of the small birds and a rich, interior luster to the flower petals. The execution is testament to Keibun’s level of skill: though highly detailed, each layer of colored pigment must be applied lightly and without significant overpainting in order for light to travel through the painted surface evenly, avoiding areas of infelicitous buildup that would draw the viewer’s attention and distract from the overall composition. Publication History Rachel Saunders, ed., Catalogue of the Feinberg Collection of Japanese Art, brochure, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, 2021), pp. 109-110, cat. 102 Verification Level This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
