Potted Chrysanthyemums

Potted Chrysanthemums — a grouping of cultivated kiku in their containers, the plural suggesting an arrangement of multiple specimens in different colors or stages of bloom. Chrysanthemum displays (kiku-ningyō or kiku-ichi) were among the great seasonal spectacles of Edo and Meiji Japan, and the cultivation of prize-winning chrysanthemums was a serious competitive hobby. Nisaburo's treatment of multiple potted chrysanthemums creates a composition of repeated forms in different colors, celebrating the variety achievable within a single flower type.