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Can anyone provide any information whatsoever on this scroll? Is it Chinese or Japanese? It appears to be made of silk, can someone give an approximate date of production within a decade or two? I would really just love to know something about this. Thanks!

Japanese, I'd guess Meiji-early Showa periods; a Japanese speaker will identify the artist without much trouble.

Thanks, looking forward to hearing more about it!

Dan

I'm stuck with this one. I read the signature as 駛川汰眼 but I found no direct Japanese references. I could have made a mistake in my reading. On the other hand, the subject of a hawk on a branch of a plum tree reminds me of Japanese Kano paintings.
Any idea what the seal reads?

Guy.

Guy, thanks for the effort - I have no idea what the seal reads. I looked at the characters you translated: the last two look spot on but the first one looks a little bit different when I compared to the scroll up close. I took a higher resolution image of that section...maybe that will help or make a difference?

Hi Guy, the first character is 融; the rest I read the same as you do.

With the alternative first character does it translate any better?

The seal looks like it's 信寬. I'm 99% sure of the one on the right, but only 60% on the left, since the radical seems to be on steroids.

Here's a cropped, cleaned up version of the top character which seems to be the most problematic...I spent way too much time on Japanese kanji websites today trying to identify it...(Even tried Chinese characters as well)

Again, thanks for the assistance!

Thanks for your input. That made things much easier.

The signature is read ‘Yûsen hôgen’ (融川法眼), referring to Kano Yusen Hironobu (1778-1815).
The seal is read ‘Hironobu’ (寛信).

Kano Yusen was granted with the honorary title ‘hôgen’ in the year Bunka 5 (1808) – therefore, the painting should be dated between 1808-1815.
Always difficult to judge from here, but my guess is that this is an original (original mounting?) - in fair condition.

Guy.

Thanks so much for the research...I had no idea it was that old!

Any advice on how to handle it? My concern is that it seems to be deteriorating and I would like to have it stabilized to prevent further deterioration. I am sure a restoration is out of my budgetary reach, but is there anything less intense that can be done to preserve it? Thanks again, I really appreciate the input. - Dan

Without doubt, a professional restoration will cost you a good amount of money.

The only advice that I can give is to keep it away from the light - don't expose your scroll permanently to UV light. Of course, you can display it from time to time (but not in direct sunlight). Keep it in a neutral enviroment (not too warm/cold - too humid/dry). Roll the scroll up by using the lower crossbar (jiku), but not too tight or too loose in order to avoid further damage to the mounting, the silk and more overall wrinkling. When completely rolled up, adjust the strenght by using both ends of the lower crossbar for loosening or pullling it tighter. The two vertical strips of cloth (futai) should be folded as indicated and illustrated at the Japanese website.

Some useful links:
http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/kakemono.htm
http://www.honakote.com/simaikata.html

Enjoy and have fun.
Guy

Here's another useful site where the handling of a scroll (kakemono - kakejiku) is illustrated.

Guy.

URL Title :How the handle a Japanese kakemono?

Thanks, Guy! Great info across the board...Again, I would just like to emphasize how much I appreciate the assistance.

Best,

Dan

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