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Nature


Plants and flowers. More - trees, fruits, animals etc. - to be added soon!



5 subcategories
all other Plants

ALL OTHER PLANTS

Animals

ANIMALS

Flowers

FLOWERS

Fruit & Vegetables

FRUIT & VEGETABLES

Trees

TREES

6,639 photos
Sugawara no Michizane in Chinese dress, Muromachi period, Japan, late 15th century. Holding a small branch of plum blossom, the badge of a Chinese scholar-gentleman. His Chinese appearance may be a reference to the legend that he studied Zen in China after his death. One of his poems is inscribed at the top of the painting. A cultural figure of the Heian period (794 -1185), he is still widely regarded in Japan as the patron of scholarship. He was a scholar of Chinese and also a politician who rose to be Minister of the Right, one of the highest ranks in the government of the time. After his death in exile there were several disasters in the capital of Kyoto which people believed were caused by his angry spirit. He was therefore raised to the rank of a Shintô deity (renamed Karai Tenjin). In the Muromachi period (1333-1568) there was a revival of interest in kambun (Chinese-style writing) and Michizane's reputation was re-established as the greatest Japanese poet who had written in the Chinese language.Creator: Kitagawa Utamaro JA, JP 1 (1913.5-1.038)
#33011030

Sugawara no Michizane in Chinese dress, Muromachi period, Japan, late 15th centu...

'Hunting for insects', Japan, Edo period, c1768. A pair of lovers hunt for insects, probably fireflies or chirping crickets, on an early autumn night. A small cage stands ready on the ground while the young man searches through a plant of bush clover. He turns for a moment to exchange an intimate glance with the woman who wears an elegant kimono with a pattern of flowering morning glory. The black background must have been printed several times to produce the soft velvety depth against which the two figures and lantern stand out to such effect. Suzuki Harunobu was one of the first Ukiyo-e artists to develop techniques of full-colour printing from around 1765. He is already using the medium with great sophistication and delicacy in this print. He often echoes the courtly romance of the Heian period in his works, and here we may have a reference to a scene of insect-hunting from the "Genji monogatari" ('The Tale of Genji'). JA, 1945.11-1.08
#33011037

'Hunting for insects', Japan, Edo period, c1768. A pair of lovers hunt for insec...

A hanging scroll painting of monkeys, Edo period, Japan, c1795-c1801. A mother monkey and her baby sit together on a rock beside a blueberry bush. The mother is examining a single fruit that she has just picked, while the young one looks on. The painting shows clearly the artist's mastery of the depiction of animals; the soft texture of the animals' coats achieved by meticulously brushing in each individual hair over a background wash. Mori Sosen is most famous for his paintings of monkeys. In about 1808 he even changed the first character of his name to one meaning 'monkey'. He also founded a school of animal painting with his brother Shûhô, in Osaka. JA, JP 2500 (1913.5-1.0531)
#33011041

A hanging scroll painting of monkeys, Edo period, Japan, c1795-c1801. A mother m...

Birds and flowers, Edo period, Japan, 1791. A white parrot perched on a blossoming branch. The parrot is not native to Japan, but it was imported from as early as the ninth century, when the birds were presented to the imperial court. Parrots remained rare even during the Edo period (1600-1868), but featured at entertainment stalls in several cities. The white parrot was already a popular theme for paintings, but the artist Sessai may well have observed one in real life at one of these stalls. Although Sessai has here followed the thematic tradition of kachôga (bird-and-flower painting), and used conventional monochrome brushwork on the tree, he has adopted a sharply empirical style for the parrot. JA, JP ADD607 (1979.11-12.01)
#33011042

Birds and flowers, Edo period, Japan, 1791. A white parrot perched on a blossomi...

A wasps' nest, a wooden netsuke, Edo period, Japan, early 19th century. A perfectly carved wasp alights on the nest. Subjects for netsuke became more and more diverse as the Edo period progressed. All kinds of insects, as well as spiders, were a popular subject. A netsuke is a toggle worn at the end of a cord. A purse or pouch would be hung from the cord. JA, F1084
#33011051

A wasps' nest, a wooden netsuke, Edo period, Japan, early 19th century. A perfec...

Ivory statue of a falconer, Japanese, Meiji period, late 19th century. The masterly carving here reproduces every fold of the falconer's costume, the straw of his gaiters and boots, the individual strands of the cord and the soft plumage of the bird. It also suggests the textured pattern of his outer coat. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, many changes occurred within Japan forcing craftsmen to adapt their skills or change trades completely. The new preference for western dress over the traditional Japanese kimono meant that there was no longer a demand for ivory netsuke. The vast new overseas market for traditional Japanese arts and crafts meant that some carvers turned to producing purely ornamental sculptures. This piece was probably made by a member of the Tokyo Ivory Sculptors' Association, which was set up by the government to ensure that such skills were not lost. JA, 1979.7-2.7
#33011052

Ivory statue of a falconer, Japanese, Meiji period, late 19th century. The maste...

Triptych by Kunisada Minamoto Yoshitsune (Ushikawa) instructed in swordplay by Tengi Japaqnese woodblock-print
#33011053

Triptych by Kunisada Minamoto Yoshitsune (Ushikawa) instructed in swordplay by...

Marriage ceremony
#33011057

Marriage ceremony

Celadon tea bowl from Korea, Koryo dynasty, early 12th century. The lotus, on the incised design on the interior of this bowl, is a Buddhist symbol of purity, a reminder of Buddhism's strong influence on the development of celadons in the Koryo dynasty (AD 918-1392). Tea drinking became a popular activity during the late Unified Silla dynasty (AD 668-935) and early Koryo dynasty, due to the influence of Son Buddhism, which spread from Buddhist monks to the population in general. Son Buddhism strongly emphasized meditation through tea drinking. OA, 1911.6-7.29
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Celadon tea bowl from Korea, Koryo dynasty, early 12th century. The lotus, on th...

Horsemen, from 'Album of Scenes from Daily Life', late Choson dynasty, 19th century. The late Choson period was a period of relative prosperity in Korea. Chin'gyong, or 'true-view' landscape paintings became fashionable among the scholar literati class, and depicted real scenes from the Korean landscape, rather than those copied from Chinese paintings. Scenes of daily life, such as this one, became popular among the growing middle class. Kim Hong-do was one of the most famous painters of these scenes. This album is one of at least two known copies of Hong-do's famous original. The paintings focus on people and their activities, with the background barely illustrated. Scenes incude schoolroom scenes, wrestling, and other everyday activities. OA, 1961.5-13.04
#33011070

Horsemen, from 'Album of Scenes from Daily Life', late Choson dynasty, 19th cent...

'Picture Puzzle of Jonah and the Whale and a Squatting Peasant', 1537. The anamorphic, or distorted, view in this large, dated print shows Jonah stepping out from an imaginative whale but the landscape is not distorted. In the foreground, the stretched inscription reads, WAS SICHST DV? ('What do you see?'), with the date and a small printer's name. To 'see' the subject correctly, a viewpoint from the lower right-hand corner is required. A squatting and defecating peasant then appears. The vulgarity is disguised by the distortion, but the goat on the far left about to charge the naked buttocks gives a clue to the woodcut's underlying peculiarity. PD, 1880-7-10-643 (CD I. 552,9)
#330111 2

'Picture Puzzle of Jonah and the Whale and a Squatting Peasant', 1537. The anamo...

'The Three Trees', 1643. The three trees are buffeted by gusts of wind and rise in a burst of sunlight against a sky of rapidly moving clouds. On the left, a standing fisherman watches the end of his line, while his wife waits with a lunch basket. Above them, cows, horses and people are scattered in the sunlit fields, beyond which the towers of the distant city almost vanish in a squall of rain. On the near right, two lovers can be glimpsed in the undergrowth. A wagon on the brow of the hill approaches a seated artist, who sketches the view that is out of our sight. Behind the trunks of the three trees, some cottages shelter in the hollow of the hill, while far above them a flock of birds soars high in the sky.This atmospheric print is widely regarded as Rembrandt's greatest as well as his most elaborate landscape etching. PD, 1868-8-22-678 (Hind 205; Bartsch 212)
#330111 3

'The Three Trees', 1643. The three trees are buffeted by gusts of wind and rise...