斯波園女筆 消息|Letter
Medium
Letter mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
Image: 7 3/16 × 20 1/8 in. (18.3 × 51.1 cm) Overall with mounting: 36 1/2 × 21 1/8 in. (92.7 × 53.7 cm)
Classification
Calligraphy
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2022
Accession Number
2022.432.14
Art Historical Context
In the serene world of Edo-period Japan (1615–1868), where peace fostered a vibrant cultural renaissance, behold *Letter* (斯波園女筆 ), a delicate ink-on-paper missive penned by the talented calligrapher Shibaome in 1696. Originally a personal correspondence, it has been elegantly mounted as a hanging scrollmeasuring 36½ × 21⅛ inches overall—transforming intimate words into a cherished art object. This practice highlights the era's reverence for calligraphy, where fluid brushstrokes conveyed not just meaning but emotion and personality. Shiba Sonome, known by her studio name 斯波園女, exemplifies the...