Poem Scroll with Deer

Tawaraya Sotatsu

1610s

Handscroll; ink, gold and silver on paper

Seattle Art Museum

This masterpiece is a collaboration between the painter Sotatsu and the calligrapher Koetsu. Sotatsu’s deer frolic in a choreographed dance with poems from the classic anthology Shin Kokinshu, brushed by Koetsu in the fluid “scattered writing” calligraphy style. The deer, sign of autumn in waka poetry and a messenger of god in Shinto mythology, can also be read as an auspicious motif here. Gift of Mrs. Donald E. Frederick Object number 51.127