Kakejiku Signature Help

[Dreg]

Hello all

 

While this is not Nihonto specific, I was hoping someone on here might be willing to have a go at Kakejiku.  I am guessing this piece to be early Meiji/late Edo, and it reminds me of the way the Hara school approaches birds.  I do not know Kanji well, and have a difficult time reading non-printed Hiragana/Katakana, but I believe the last character is fude/from the brush of? Thank you in advance, and as always much appreciation for this forum

 

 

-Dave

[SteveM]

山菴永祥筆

 

San'an Eishō hitsu

Late Edo, early Meiji artist. Kyo-Kanō school.

[TETSUGENDO]

Very nice image!

 

Cheers

[Dreg]

山菴永祥筆

 

San'an Eishō hitsu

Late Edo, early Meiji artist. Kyo-Kanō school.

Thank you very much!  I'm curious, was I correct about the last character?

[Dreg]

Very nice image!

 

Cheers

thank you!

[SteveM]

Thank you very much!  I'm curious, was I correct about the last character?

 

Yes, literally it means "brush", and in this context it means "drawn by...". So, your translation was fine - although the reading in this case is hitsu, and not fude. 

[Dreg]

Yes, literally it means "brush", and in this context it means "drawn by...". So, your translation was fine - although the reading in this case is hitsu, and not fude. 

right on! thank you for the follow up.  one last question, how does one differentiate between hitsu and fude? is it a contextual issue?

[SteveM]

Yes, exactly. This kanji at the end of a signature on a painting will always have this reading and meaning. 

 

If it appears in the middle of a sentence by itself, as a noun, it is pronounced fude.

If it appears as part of a compound word (2 or more kanji) the pronunciation could be either hitsu or fude, depending upon the word. 

 

筆箱 fude-bako

鉛筆 enpitsu (hitsu changing to pitsu due to the preceding sound being a consonant)