Discussion

Combination Painting Subjects

There are many painting subjects in Japanese kachō-ga, pictures of birds and flowers. Some with specific combinations of subjects in the same composition have special names. Here is a chart that lists them.

Shiai was a painting subject of ours last semester. That is why it is in bold face in this chart borrowed from last semester's canvas material. This week's painting subject, fūkikokkō (this is the correct spelling), is further down the list. The name means rich fragrance, and it combines peonies and orchids.

Peonies

Peonies were covered last week, so that material is not going to be repeated this week except to touch on fragrance and edibility. Several peony species have what has been described as "a fresh, sweet aroma that can fill a room." Their fragrance can range from sweet and rosy to citrus-like. Usually white, pink, and doubled peonies have the strongest fragrance.  The chemicals that produce peony aroma are used in some premium perfumes, but they can't be extracted directly from the plant. They must must be laboratory synthesized.

Not all peony species have aroma.

Peony blossom buds and petals are good to eat. All other parts of peony plants contain toxins and must be avoided. Even peony petals may cause an allergic reaction in rare instances. If one is susceptible to allergens, test by applying crushed peony petals to a patch of skin for a few hours and see if there is a reaction. 

Some suggestions for using peony petals in food are as floral garnishes, peony-infused syrups, edible cake decorations, peony tea, and peony ice cubes; i.e., ordinary water ice frozen with peony petals imbedded inside. The photo below shows homemade peony jelly.

Japan's Hanami festival, a celebration of early spring flowers, especially cherry and plum blossoms, is in part an occasion for eating special foods. One of these is a special sake infused with peony petals called botan-shu.

Though hard to find, dried peony petals are commercially available.

Japan's Orchids

Orchids belong to the Orchidaceae family of plants. It is comprised of 763 genera containing about 28,000 orchid species growing almost everywhere on Earth except glaciers. The greatest diversity is found in the tropics. Japan has its share of orchids, but there are five species that are especially popular for cultivation.

Fūkiran (Neofinetia falcata)

Other names for this orchid are the Samurai orchid or the Japanese Wind Orchid. This orchid has been prized for centuries. it was once illegal for anyone below the rank of samurai to possess them. Initially sought in the wild, they began to be cultivated and were at the height of their popularity by the mid Edo Period (1603 - 1868). The blossoms are about an inch across, and the leaves rarely span more than four inches. 

Fūkiran are perennial epiphytes that grow on the trunks of trees and sometimes rocks. They emit odor 24/7, a rarity among orchids, that is similar to jasmine.

Shunran (Cymbidium goeringii)

Cymbidiums in general are known as boat orchids. Cymbidium goeringii (shunran, meaning Spring Orchid in Japan) is a miniature version that is also known as Nobel Orchid. It is native to Japan, Korea, and China and has many subspecies. Its variations have a wide range for flower forms and colors. One feature is that though shunran orchids may have many blossoms, there is usually one blossom per stalk. 

Keiran is Japanese for Autumn Orchid. I don't have the Latin name for it or a photo that I'm certain is it, but the main difference between shunran and keiran is that keiran has many blossoms per stalk. Otherwise it is very similar to shunran.

Kanran (Cymbidium kanran)

Kanran means Cold Orchid in Japanese. It has the distinction of blossoming in the late fall and winter when most flowering plants are dormant. It likes to grow in the crevice's of rocks at altitudes of ½- to over 1-mile above sea level. They can grow to over a yard in height. It can have as many as 12 blossoms per stem. Kanran has a fragrance similar to musk.

Artwork

Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849)

The great landscape artist painted many subjects besides those. Hokusai's Orange Orchids was published in the 1833 to 1834 time frame.

Utagawa Hiroshige III (1842 – 1894)

Hiroshige III was a student of the original Hiroshige and the second to inherit his name. Like Hiroshige II, III's painting style greatly resembled that of his predecessors. The print below, White Peasants and Orchids, was part of a series titled Pictures of Flowers and Birds, published sometime in the 1880s.

Toyohara Kunichika (1835 – 1900) 

Kunichika was an ukiyo-e artist who carried on the tradition into the modern era after Japan's opening to the world in 1868. He painted some bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful people), but his specialty was yakusha-e (kabuki prints). Published in 1880, this print depicts the actor Kataoka Gado in the role of Yakko Ranpei. Yakko was a footman to a samurai. The "ran" at the beginning of his other name means orchid. The title of the print is "Juni ka Getsu Hana Awase". It is a reference to a card game in which months are matched with flowers. There should be twelve prints in the series. This print matches the month of November with orchids.