ITO JAKUCHU: SEDGE OF SEVEN CRANES

By Ito Jakucho (1716-1800), signed Heian Jakuchu koji and sealed Jakuchu koji
Japan, c. 1755

Published: Forrer, Matthi [ed.] (2020) Kakemono: Five centuries of Japanese painting. The Perino Collection, 2020, p. 60, no 36.

Exhibited:
MAO Museo d'Arte Orientale, Turin, Kakemono: Five centuries of Japanese painting. The Perino Collection, 27 March-28 June 2020.
MUSEC Museo delle Culture, Lugano, Kakemono: Five centuries of Japanese painting. The Perino Collection, 17 July 2020-11 April 2021.

Ink, watercolors, and gofun on silk. Mounted as a hanging scroll painting on a silk brocade frame with bone jikusaki (roller ends). Superbly painted to depict a group of seven tanchozuru (red-crowned cranes) huddling together for warmth.

Inscriptions: To the bottom-left edge, signed Heian Jakuchu koji with seal Jakuchu koji.

Image SIZE 51 x 110.5 cm, SIZE incl. mounting 64 x 197 cm

Provenance: Ex-collection Dr. Claudio Perino, Turin, Italy, acquired mostly in Japan in early 2000s. Azca Auctions, Pursuing Perfection, the Perino Collection, 31 March 2025, London, lot 38 (bought-in, mid-estimate GBP 50,000 or approx. EUR 58,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Dr. Claudio Perino is a collector with a keen interest in Japanese, Chinese and Far Eastern cultures. His collection consists of over 2000 works of art, partly loaned to the Museum of Oriental Arts (MAO) in Turin, Italy and to the Museo delle Culture (MUSEC) in Lugano, Switzerland.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, little flaking to pigment, minuscule soiling, and scattered flaking and folds. The mounting with signs of wear and use, and paper backing to the top edge.

The meticulously painted birds, with their lifelike plumage, contrast beautifully with the semi-abstract landscape, evoking the feeling of a cold morning, shrouded in a freezing mist, that surrounds the graceful flock.

In this work, we see the familiar Manchurian crane (Grus Japonensis) with a red crest and snow-white plumage, a symbol of longevity, fidelity, and good fortune throughout East Asia. The long-necked bird is said to live a thousand years and has been an auspicious symbol in East Asia since Chinese antiquity—in Daoist lore, the crane shares the world of the immortals. Because of their lifetime monogamy, cranes also symbolize happy marriage. The number seven is also considered particularly auspicious in this region, making the number of birds depicted no mere coincidence, but rather an intentional choice that enhances the image’s significance.

Ito Jakucho (1716-1800) inherited his father’s greengrocery business but preferred to live the solitary life of a painter. Sometime in his early thirties he became interested in Zen Buddhism and met Daiten Kenjo (1719-1801), a scholar-monk who became abbot of Shokoku-ji, one of the five most important Zen monasteries in Kyoto. Daiten proved influential in the artist’s life going forward. Jakuchu is usually described as an idiosyncratic nonconformist, positioning him in stark contrast to the prevailing orthodox Kano lineage. However, his meticulously detailed paintings reveal his own conscientious reliance on Chinese prototypes. Daiten, his friend, patron and spiritual guide, made the Chinese works available to him. For example, the artist was able to study original paintings of cranes by the obscure fifteenth-century Chinese artist Wen Zheng that were preserved at Shokoku-ji. Today, Jakuchu is a household name in Japan—exhibitions of his work are always blockbusters, and for good reason. Jakuchu used the seal on this painting for just a short time, early in his career—they appear on less than five other paintings.

Jakucho painted cranes numerous times, most notably in his renowned series of thirty scrolls titled Colorful Realm of Living Beings (Doshoku Sai-e) (see literature comparison), which he presented to Shokoku-ji. The series was later transferred to the Imperial Court in the 1890s and is now housed at the Museum of the Imperial Collections (Sannomaru Shozokan) as a National Treasure.

Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related hanging scroll painting of a pair of cranes and the rising sun, by the same artist, size 124.5 x 55.6 cm, at Christie’s, Japanese and Korean Art, 16 March 2021, New York, lot 9 (sold for USD 1,590,000 or approx. EUR 1,679,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).