Kanō Tanshin Morimasa (1653–1718), Pine, Bamboo, Plum, Crane, and Turtles, A Pair of Hanging Scrolls with Box

This is an exceptional pair of Japanese hanging scrolls by Kanō Tanshin Morimasa, depicting a crane beneath an ancient pine on one scroll and long-tailed turtles beside flowering plum and bamboo on the other. Painted in ink and color on silk, the two compositions form a carefully conceived meditation on longevity, endurance, integrity, and renewal.

The first scroll depicts a red-crowned crane standing beside the trunk of an old pine. Its upright neck and elevated head convey alertness and dignity, while its plumage is articulated through delicately layered white pigment and precisely controlled ink. The pine extends diagonally into the composition, its rugged trunk rendered with broken washes and angular strokes that contrast with the rhythmic clusters of dark green needles.

The companion scroll depicts three turtles gathered at the edge of a stream beneath flowering plum branches. Their elongated, flowing tails identify them as minogame, legendary turtles of such advanced age that aquatic plants are believed to grow upon their shells. The sweeping curves of their tails continue into the surrounding water, transforming the ripples into an elegant calligraphic pattern. Above them, pink-and-white plum blossoms emerge from angular branches, while bamboo leaves extend into the surrounding space.

The inscription on the wooden storage box identifies the complete subject as “Pine, Bamboo, Plum, Crane, and Turtles” (松竹梅鶴亀図), although the characters have become faint and difficult to discern. Pine, bamboo, and plum—collectively known as the “Three Friends of Winter”—symbolize endurance, integrity, and renewal. The crane and turtle are ancient East Asian emblems of longevity. Their combination transforms this pair into an especially auspicious visual celebration of resilience, harmony, and long life.

The compositions reveal the profound influence of Chinese Southern Song painting upon the Kanō school. Rather than filling the entire pictorial field, Tanshin concentrates the principal motifs within the lower corners and along the lateral edges, leaving broad expanses of atmospheric space above and between them. This “one-corner” compositional approach, associated with Southern Song academic painting, allows emptiness to become an active element of the design. The asymmetrical placement, cropped forms, misty surroundings, and carefully balanced voids suggest a natural world extending far beyond the visible boundaries of the silk.

Ink wash establishes the atmospheric structure, while mineral pigments lend the surfaces a restrained decorative brilliance. The rugged trunks are built from abbreviated, textured strokes; the pine needles and bamboo leaves are organized into disciplined rhythmic patterns; and the crane’s feathers, plum blossoms, and turtle shells are rendered with remarkable delicacy. The result unites the poetic understatement of Southern Song painting with the refined decorative sensibility of the Edo-period Kanō school.

Kanō Tanshin Morimasa was the eldest son and pupil of Kanō Tan’yū, one of the most influential painters of the early Edo period. Tanshin succeeded his father as the second-generation head of the Kajibashi branch of the Kanō school and received the honorary ecclesiastical rank of hōgen. His position placed him within the central lineage of the official painting academy serving the Tokugawa shogunate. The British Museum identifies him as Tan’yū’s eldest son and successor to the Kajibashi Kanō atelier, while paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art demonstrate his mastery of related bird, animal, and auspicious subjects. 

This pair exemplifies the Kanō school’s ability to preserve and reinterpret the heritage of Chinese painting. Its harmonious union of ink wash, restrained color, symbolic imagery, and expansive negative space represents Japanese ink painting at its highest level—simultaneously scholarly and decorative, monumental and intimate, disciplined and deeply poetic.

Both scrolls are signed “Kanō Tanshin” (狩野探信) and sealed. Accompanied by a wooden storage box bearing a faint and partially indistinct inscription reading “Pine, Bamboo, Plum, Crane, and Turtles” (松竹梅鶴亀図).

{Approximate dimensions of each: Image size: 44 5/8 x 12 1/2 inches}. {Scroll size: 73 x 16 5/8 inches}.

This work will be featured in the special exhibition Time Well Wasted: Five Hundred Years of Japanese Ink Painting, held at Michaan’s Auctions from August 16 to 21, 2026, and will be published in the accompanying book of the same title by Jingwei Zeng.

Some horizontal creasing. Good condition. For condition report and additional photos, please contact the Asian Art Department.