Cho Gessho (1772-1832)


Edo period (1615-1868), early 19th centuryPair of kakejiku (vertical hanging scrolls); ink and colours on silk in silk mounts, depicting a variety of birds and plants including pheasant, parrots, mandarin and other ducks, owls, crows, pine, peonies, mallows, Chinese bellflowers, and violets; the right-hand scroll with seals Yuki and Sada(?), with two further seals Yukisada and Genkei at top right; the left-hand scroll with seals Yukisada and Genkei, signed Gessho hitsu, accompanied by a wooden tomobako storage box inscribed Gessho hitsu Kacho nifukutsui (Pair of hanging scrolls of birds and flowers by Cho Gessho) and a certificate of authenticity with the seal of a member of the Kohitsu lineage of fine-art appraisers. Each overall: 202cm x 72cm (79½in x 28 3/8in), image: 116cm x 55.8cm (45 5/8in x 22in). (4).
|Born in Omi Province, Cho Gessho (also called Yukisada) studied in Kyoto with Matsumura Goshun, moved to Nagoya and was briefly assistant to Nagasawa Rosetsu before the latter's untimely death in 1799. Gessho remained in Nagoya and established a significant local reputation for his bird-and-flower paintings in a Chinese-inflected style, as well as for his book illustration. His work was praised by no less an artist than Tani Buncho.