Several months back I made a stop into one of my favorite thrift stores. I've learned that they don't have a very good selection of clothes and furniture. But I have found some pretty cool items on their shelves - lots of hard to find colors of Fire King cups, mid-century candle holders and entire dish sets from the 50's. But it's way in the back of the store, where their donated art is, that the best treasures are found. It's in the back where I totally lucked out and scored eight antique Japanese scrolls rolled up and thrown on a shelf with other people's unwanted art.
The truth is I almost didn't notice them. They were piled one on top of the other and I'm not sure what I thought they were, but surely not what they turned out to be. The scroll that you are looking at here is one of my favorite. It measures 4.6 feet in length and 1.8 feet in width. Surprisingly, it's also in great condition, with no tears or holes in the paper.Speaking of paper, I'm not actually sure whether it's painted on paper or silk, as I'm just not that familiar with Japanese art. The back appears to be paper and the front is a silk material.
The detail of the fisherman is incredible. Everything down to the fishing line is a brilliant color and you can see the artist took their time painting this scroll. I have heard that scrolls tell a story or represent something important. I wonder if this is a self-portrait. I wonder if this is a painting of a man in a small Japanese village.
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| Detail of Fisherman - Antique Japanese Scroll |
Coming across these scrolls at $6.99 was amazing in itself, but I'm a little frustrated that I know so little about the history... or the artist. There is a lot of Japanese text written on the top and I have no idea what it says.
Is it a story? A poem or a ode to a lost love? If anyone who reads this can understand Japanese, I would love some insight. Otherwise, feel free to share, comment or ask any questions I haven't answered here.
Happy Hunting!
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