by Ebina Masao
$200–$1,500. Common prints: $200–$500. Key value factors: Ebina's prints are modestly priced and accessible to beginning collectors of Japanese creative prints.
Catalogued with still life and food subjects, this print departs from the figure-centered compositions typical of Ebina's Genji series. Chapter 4 of The Tale of Genji is standardly titled 'Yugao' (Evening Faces), named for the white gourd-vine flower that Yugao hangs on Genji's carriage gate — a botanical motif closely associated with impermanence and the fragility of the chapter's tragic heroine. 'The Bottle Gourds' may represent an alternate titling of this chapter or an independent still life inspired by its imagery. The composition likely foregrounds the gourds themselves — pale, rounded forms — against dark ground, with the botanical precision associated with [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) conventions applied to a literary subject. Thin key-block outlines and flat color passages would render the smooth surfaces of the gourds with restrained clarity.
Chapter 4 - The Bottle Gourds was created by Ebina Masao (海老名正夫).
Chapter 4 - The Bottle Gourds depicts still life and food & drink.
