Quails

Quail (uzura) studies have a long pedigree in Japanese painting, associated above all with the Rinpa school and the seasonal pairing of quails with autumn grasses such as susuki and hagi. As a kacho-e in mokuhanga, a print on this subject would typically show one or two birds at ground level, with the carving giving close attention to the stippled plumage and the fine lines of the surrounding grasses. The format favours a low horizon and an asymmetrical composition, often with the birds offset toward one edge and the remaining sheet given over to foliage or unprinted washi. Such studies sit outside Kotozuka's predominant Kyoto landscape output but reflect the breadth common to mid-twentieth-century self-published artists, who issued kacho-e alongside meisho-e to round out their catalogs and serve a domestic market that valued nature subjects for seasonal alcove display.