Hello,
I would like to ask for your help with identifying the artist of a Japanese hanging scroll. I am a private owner and unfortunately, I am unable to read the signature or the seal.
The painting depicts a hawk on a plum branch, likely in the Kano school style from the late Edo or Meiji period.
I have attached three photographs showing the full scroll, the signature, and a close-up of the seal. I would be very grateful for any help with reading the characters, identifying the artist, or finding any biographical information.
Thank you very much for your time and expertise!
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the seal is 茉司之印 (司 might be incorrect). The characters 之印 (seal of) are often seen on Chinese seals, but I have rarely encountered them on Japanese ones, so I believe the seal is in Chinese and read "seal of Mosi" (or "seal of Mo-some syllable")
the signature is too cursive to be easily readable, and I dont see the character 茉 in it.
The scroll was in a family collection in Gifu Prefecture and was dated by experts to the late Edo period. So, it could have been painted by a Chinese artist who was in Japan, or it might have been an imported piece?
I think it was actually pretty common for Japanese artists to use "no in" 之印 on seals -- certainly that is true of prints (I am much less knowledgeable on paintings). There are at least 10 such seals on my "Ukiyo-e Signature Sample Database".
-A
It was indeed common for Chinese painters to spend time in Japan in the late 19th and early 20th c., either to study or to paint, but I am not an expert on Japanese and Chinese paintings, and my comment about the seal being Chinese is an educated guess, not a certainty.