Roosters and Hens

This exquisite pair of unsigned paintings—once attributed to Kano Eitoku—demonstrates remarkable artistic mastery. The roosters and hens rendered with vibrant, lively feathers, while the surrounding landscape is depicted with naturalistic grace, creating a harmonious and captivating scene. Although the connection between the works remains uncertain, the mirrored composition of the left scroll here closely resembles one of the famous set of thirty large hanging scrolls of flowers, birds and fish (Doshoku saie) created by Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800) for Shokokuji Temple in Kyoto between 1755 and 1765, and now in the collection of the Imperial Household Agency, see Kyoto National Museum and Shogakukan, eds., Ito Jakuchu taizen (Complete works of Ito Jakuchu) (Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2002), pl. 53. There is also a painting depicting an almost identical black hen to that of the left scroll, set within a similarly styled landscape, dated to the Momoyama period in the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art (https://asia-archive.si.edu/object/F1896.39/).