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GAKUTEI, Yashima (1786 - 1868)	'Four Companions of Calligraphy for the Ichiyo-ren (Ichiyo poetry club') Sumi Komachi ('Ink and Komachi')
	Signed:                    Gakutei Harunobu Date:                         c.1825 Size:                         shikishiban Condition: Very fine impression, colors and condition.

One of Japan's greatest poets and lady-in-waiting of the Heian court, Ono no Komachi (act. mid-ninth century) is shown washing a book of calligraphy. This scene is based on the No play, Soshi arai Komachi, in which she is accused by a male colleague of copying a poem from the 'Man'yoshu" and passing it off as her own at a po-etry competition. In fact, the preceding night, the envious poet had overheard her reciting this verse and had written it into his own volume of this well known anthology. Seizing this book from her accuser, she plunges it into a tub of water, causing the newly-written ink to run and thereby proving her innocence. The border consists of patterns of cracked-ice, plum-blossom roun-dels and a crest of the three characters all reading bun. These motifs refer to the Ichiyo poetry club. Despite its title, which cites the number four, there are actually eight prints in this series of alternating Chinese and Japanese subjects, each of which is associated with one of the four 'companions' of calligraphy - ink, inkstone, brush, and paper. The poems take up these themes:
mizu no mo ni utsureru ume no ka o soete arau sôshi ni nami no ume une	Scented by the plum blossoms seem reflected in the water, the ripples splash over the book being washed. (poet: Karakutei Kobun)
enarazu mo nioeru ume no shitamizu ni utayomidori no koe o arawasu	Although he can not use words the warbler reveals his song in the waters that run beneath the scented plum. (poet: Karindô)

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