Twelve Poems from the New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern

Hon'ami Kōetsu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This elegant silk handscroll includes twelve poems from the Shin kokin wakashū, or New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (ca. 1206), one of the great imperially commissioned anthologies of waka (court poetry) of ancient times. During an age when there was a revival in classical Japanese court literature, this anthology was a frequent source for the revolutionary calligrapher Hon’ami Kōetsu, who studied Heian calligraphy styles but ultimately created his own distinctive mode of writing. The poems here are drawn from the autumn section of the anthology (poems 515–526). The scroll is decorated with plant motifs imprinted by stamping, a departure from the traditional method of block-printing or hand-painting. Two hues of gold dust can be discerned, the more luminous perhaps a later addition.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art