KISSO: A SCROLL PAINTING OF TURTLES By Kimoto Kisso, signed Kisso with artist seals
Japan, Oita, 1885

Finely painted with ink and watercolors on silk and mounted as a hanging scroll with a silk brocade frame, depicting a bale of turtles swimming in the water, one carrying its young on its back, all amid aquatic plants. The calligraphy can be translated as “The wise masters live quiet, long, and virtuous lives, written in the fourth month of the year of kinoto-tori (Meiji 18, corresponding to 1885), by Kisso”, the seals red Jitsuin, Kisso, and Shinmusai, the fourth seal illegible.

SIZE 112 x 24.5 cm (image) and 178 x 33.5 cm (incl. mounting)

Condition: Fair condition with some wear, creasing, minor soiling, the colors slightly faded.
Provenance: Spanish private collection.

Kimoto Kisso studied under Mori Kaikoku (c. 1800-1860, Oita), Oda Kaisen (1785-1862, Kyoto) and Hoashi Kyo (1810-1884, Oita) and furthered his painting studies by visiting various parts of Japan, including Nagasaki.