Pair Of ducks

Pair of Ducks depicts two waterfowl, almost certainly mandarin ducks (oshidori) given the long-standing convention in Japanese print and painting of pairing them as emblems of conjugal devotion. The image likely places the birds on water with reeds, iris, or a flowering branch nearby, following compositional formulas inherited from the [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) tradition. Technical hallmarks of such prints include [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations across the water surface to suggest depth and reflection, fine keyblock work to articulate the male's distinctive crest and wing sails, and a measured color register avoiding the heavy overprinting of late-Edo [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e). Shoun, who lived from 1870 to 1965 and trained in Japanese painting before adopting woodblock design, produced kacho-e alongside the [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) and genre scenes for which he was better known in Meiji and Taisho Tokyo. A pair-of-ducks subject sits comfortably within his lineage from the Edo masters Hiroshige and Hokusai, while anticipating the [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) revival of bird-and-flower printmaking led by Ohara Koson in the early twentieth century.