Chapter 4 - The Bottle Gourds

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 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.