Plum

Plum blossoms — ume — in their late winter flowering are one of the most beloved subjects in Japanese art, the first tree to bloom while snow may still be on the ground, their fragrance and white or pink flowers embodying the season's promise. In bijin-ga, the plum is often paired with a woman to suggest parallel qualities: beauty, resilience, the appearance of fragility concealing inner strength. Hanko's plum subject may be purely botanical or may incorporate the figure study that was his primary medium.