Week 3
Discussion
From a bijin-ga by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753 - 1806). See discussion.
About Quince
The Wrong Quinces
Latin: Cydonia oblonga
This week's painting subject is quince, but probably not the quince that comes first to mind for most Westerners. That quince is related to apples and pears. The raw fruit is sour and astringent and very tough to cut or chew into. It was usually eaten cooked.
Quince trees used to be very common in American gardens since colonial times. Besides its food value, it was a source of pectin, used for preserving food. A cup of water with quince seeds in it becomes almost like Jell-O. Its popularity faded when Charles Knox introduced powdered gelatin in the 1890s. Quince is grown commercially on only about 250 acres in America today. The tree is very attractive as it ages.
Its blossoms are pale pink.
Latin: Chaenomeles speciosa
This week's painting subject is Japanese quince, but there is another plant called Japanese quince, too. Chaenomeles speciosa (also known as Chinese quince) is more commonly called a flowering quince. Its flowers and fruit are similar to those of our painting subject, but compare this photo of the plant with the next picture, showing our real subject this week.
The Right Quince (Latin: Chaenomeles japonica)
The real quince painting subject this week is called boke by the Japanese and Japanese quince by Westerners. Instead of a tree, it is a bush or shrub, generally growing 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide. It has thorns.
As can be readily seen, boke flowers have different colors than regular quince (Cydonia oblonga), with colors ranging from red (predominantly), to white to pink, with multiple colors sometimes appearing on the same plant. Boke is a spring blooming plant, with blossoms typically appearing before the leaves come out.
The external appearance of boke fruit is similar to regular quince, and like regular quince, it is hard and astringent. It is almost always eaten only after it has bletted (ripened until the interior becomes soft) or been cooked.
This is a horizontal cross section of boke fruit. The kernels are poisonous, but not enough to be dangerous to humans if eaten in small quantities. The fruit is sometimes used in jellies, jams, and pies.
The interior pattern of boke fruit sliced horizontally has a name in Japanese; mokkō (木瓜). The kanji is the same as for boke. Clothing patterns inspired by mokkō first appeared among courtiers in China's Tang dynasty (618 - 907). Mokkō patterns were adopted by the Japanese when boke were imported into Japan during the Heian period (794 - 1185). This mokkō is the Oda clan's family crest.
This next crest belongs to the Asakura clan.
Mokkō patterns were used numerous other places, too. For example, the sword guard below (mokkō tsuba 木瓜鍔) uses it.
Artwork
Art isn't all paintings. Among the other kinds of art is ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arranging. The ikebana below is one example that uses boke blossoms.
Bonsai is the artificial shaping of living plants like the boke below.
Kitagawa Utamaro (1753 - 1806)
Regarding paintings, I've been unable to find any Japanese classical artwork that feature boke plants, blossoms, or fruit. Since boke fruit is edible if cooked, however, a couple of paintings showing food preparation might be in order. The following two paintings are both by Utamaro, one of the greatest Japanese ukiyo-e artists. He is most famous for his bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful people), especially women of the demimonde.
Both of these paintings were produced in the 1789 to 1799 period. The title of the first is Grating Radish for Sashimi.
Next is titled Preparing a Meal for a Nightingale. Some sources say it is a lark, but in either case, it is a caged bird.
Literature
Just for fun, I thought that a little quince poetry might be in order. Edward Lear (1812 - 1888) is known for his children's nonsense poems, the most famous of which is The Owl and the Pussycat, published in 1871. Lear also drew pictures to illuminate his poetry, one of which is shown between the 2nd and 3rd stanzas below. The quince reference occurs in stanza 3. Does anyone know what a runcible spoon is?
The Owl and the Pussycat
I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"
II
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
III
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.