Artist: Isoda Koryūsai (attributed to)
Title: Two Pheasants Next to a Stream Date: ca.1770s
A pair of pheasants are shown beside a meandering stream. A petite flowering cherry tree lifts its blossoms above their heads. There is a stylistically similar scene of magpies and azaleas that is in the MFA Boston collection from the Spaulding collection. It also shows two birds next to a flowering bush and a running river, with the same empty cloud form at the bottom. As there is no signature or publisher’s information, this may have been privately commissioned. Koryusai designed about 170 bird-and-flower prints (kacho-ga), which attests to his strong interest in the genre. Some kacho-ga have symbolic associations that the public would have found appealing, such as zodiac animals or other auspicious meanings. Golden pheasants symbolized good fortune, so it is possible that this may have been purchased as an auspicious gift for a special occasion in the Edo period.
Condition: Excellent impression and color; very good condition. Some trimming at bottom; backed. To have this dayflower blue still extant is quite extraordinary.
Dimensions: 25.6 x 18.5 cm
References: Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan. See Allen Hockley “The Prints of Isoda Koryûsai” (2003) for a discussion of the artist’s kachoga, pages 169-174. A similar work was sold in March 2025 at Christie’s, also unsigned, for $2520.
SKU: KOY028
