Sparrows and Bamboo (mid- to late 1500s): Art, History and Details

Sparrows and Bamboo (mid- to late 1500s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Shiken Saidō (Japanese, 1486–1581); Ekkei Reikaku (Japanese, d. 1609).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Shiken Saidō, whose style name was Ze'an, was a Zen monk who trained at Shōkokuji temple in Kyoto, and designed the garden of Reiun’in at Myōshinji temple. He painted landscapes in the style of painter and art advisor to the shogun, Sōami (died 1525), as well as bird-and-flower compositions. A poetic inscription by the monk Ekkei Reikaku accompanies this gentle composition of two sparrows perched on bamboo.

Object facts

• Title: Sparrows and Bamboo
• Date: mid- to late 1500s
• Creator attribution: Shiken Saidō (Japanese, 1486–1581); Ekkei Reikaku (Japanese, d. 1609)
• Culture: Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink on paper
• Dimensions: Mounted: 115 x 51.6 cm (45 1/4 x 20 5/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 2015.457

Collection credit

Gift from the Collection of George Gund III

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.