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Squirrels and Chestnuts

The painting theme of squirrels and chestnuts has been of interest in China for many centuries. Chestnuts ripen in the autumn, and squirrels, being squirrels, collect them. The subject symbolizes abundance, the quiet, harmonious observation of nature, and the fall season.

This early Chinese hanging scroll, Squirrels on the Chestnut Tree, was painted by Ge Shuying sometime during the Yuan Dynasty (1271 – 1368).

Chestnuts

Chestnuts are the edible fruit of deciduous chestnut trees and shrubs in the Castanea genus that grow in temperate regions around the world. (They should not be confused with horse-chestnuts that come from a totally different genus. Horse chestnuts cannot be eaten by humans without being treated first.) There were roughly 4 billion American Chestnut trees (Castanea dentata) in the eastern United States until 1904 when a fungal blight that came with imported Asian trees destroyed 99% of them, leaving only a few small, managed stands today. Chestnut trees in other parts of the world had evolved natural defenses against the fungus, but the American species had none.

This is a Japanese chestnut tree (Castanea crenata). The Japanese name for it is kuri.

Another common name for the Japanese chestnut tree is Korean chestnut tree. It is native to both countries. The trees grow quickly and begin to produce nuts within 3 to 5 years in good growing conditions. Mature trees can grow 40- to 50-feet tall and just as wide. As chestnut trees go, the Japanese chestnut tree is medium sized. Bare in the winter, Castanea crenata trees usually begin to produce leaves around April and May. Blooms appear from late May through July. The tree shown above is in bloom.

The massed blossoms lack petals. They are on 3- to 8-inch long upright or pendulous catkins. Large numbers of male stamens provide the fuzzy appearance. Small, inconspicuous female flowers grow at the base of the catkins. Though the trees have both male and female organs, they are not self-pollinating. Pollen from another tree is necessary for fertilization to occur. Bumblebees, beetles, and flies are the primary pollinators.

Visible signs of nut development begin almost immediately after pollination occurs. It takes about 12 weeks for the nut to mature—early to mid-autumn. The nut is encased in a burr, the spiky casing shown below. Those spikes are seriously sharp and should only be handled with great care.

When the nut is fully mature, the burr often turns brownish and splits open. Japanese chestnuts tend to be larger than those of other species. The nuts are free to drop to the ground on their own, though squirrels often don't wait for that to happen.

Once shelled, Japanese eat the chestnuts raw or cook and serve them with various dishes. The kuri-gohan dish shown below is a popular chestnut rice dish.

Squirrels

There are roughly 280 squirrel species around the world. They are native to most areas except for Australia and the polar regions. Four species are native to Japan, though there are a couple of invasive species living there today, too. Of the native species, there are a couple of species of flying squirrel that live on Japan's main islands except for Hokkaido. They are exclusively nocturnal. There is also the Hokkaido Red Squirrel that lives exclusively on Japan's northern-most main island of Hokkaido. It is diurnal; active during the daytime. 

Japan's main squirrel species is the Japanese squirrel (Sciurus lis). It lives on Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu and is active year-round; it doesn't hibernate. It, too, is diurnal. Note the white ring around its eye. Its belly is white, too.

The Japanese squirrel has a body that is typically about 6- to 9-inches from the head to the base of the tail. The tail usually adds another 5- to 7-inches. Adults weigh from 9- to 11-ounces.

It dwells in holes in tree trunks if it can find them, but it also builds nests in forks of the branches of trees. The nest in the photo below was made by a different kind of squirrel in a different part of the world than Japan, but the appearance is similar to what Japanese squirrels do.

Artwork

The theme of squirrels and chestnuts (or whatever else moves the artist) appears in many ways in Japanese art.

Bundai

A bundai is a low Japanese writing table. Fine ones had illustrations painted or enameled onto its writing surface like the one below.

Here is a better view of the picture on the writing surface. This bundai, made in the first half of the 17th century, depicts Melons and a Squirrel.

Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831 – 1889)

Kyōsai received his first formal art training in the Kanō school, but he soon abandoned such traditional painting for a more popular style. Some have called him a successor of Hokusai (1760 – 1849), though he never studied with that great master. A lot of his artwork were caricatures that offended those in power, and he found himself in prison on several occasions. His ink on gold silk-painting, mounted on a rigid backing, is titled, Squirrels Gathering Chestnuts. It was painted in 1887.

Kawabata Gyokushō (1842 – 1913)

Kawabata initially learned art from his father, a lacquer artist. He later switched to more conventional painting and studied the art of the Maruyama-Shijō school which experimented with light and shadow as opposed to the more traditional style which emphasized flatness. He eventually became a lecturer in the institution that eventually became the Tōkyō University of the Arts. He exhibited artwork in a number of exhibitions and participated in governmental advisory boards for arts and crafts. His Squirrel Eating Chestnuts is an ink on silk painting that was created between 1887 and 1892).

Imao Keinen (1845 – 1924)

Keinen was a prominent painter and print designer in the early 20th century shin-hanga (new prints) movement to restore traditional Japanese subjects, techniques, and themes to Japanese print art. He eventually became a member of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. Keinen is best remembered today for his 4-volume book, Keinen Kacho Gafu, published in 1892. It contains 160 kachō-ga woodblock prints. Each volume is dedicated to a different season. The third volume, dedicated to Autumn, includes this Flycatcher and Chestnuts print.