This silk gift cover illustrates the "Seven Sages in the Bamboo Grove," a theme steeped in both Chinese and Japanese artistic history. This motif blends fact and legend, depicting Taoists endowed with supernatural abilities who rejected Confucian teachings and governmental authority, choosing instead a reclusive lifestyle. They convened in bamboo groves to revel in each other's literary talents, irreverence, and eccentricities, challenging the Confucian notion of virtue achieved through public service. This theme attracted those marginalized from governance, as well as individuals pursuing religious or aesthetic endeavors.

It found favor among the samurai class, akin to the Chinese literati, who congregated in villas and teahouses to nurture interests in poetry, music, painting, and the tea ceremony. This gift cover, yuzen-dyed with some metallic couching, remains in very good condition, bearing minor staining on both front and back, along with several tiny holes along the edge. Its dimensions measure approximately 26 inches by 27 inches (66 cm x 69 cm).

This artwork is featured on pages 180-183 of Ceremonial Textiles of Japan, 18th to 20th Centuries. This book, published by Yorke Antique Textiles, can be previewed or purchased on our website here.

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