In Sino-Japanese painting, it’s common to find poems or phrases accompanying the depicted image—whether a landscape, a palace scene, or a motif of plants and animals, as in this example. These texts typically commented on, contrasted with, or complemented the artwork. Poetry, painting, and calligraphy were meant to showcase the artist’s—or artists’—virtuosity in what was known in Chinese as “the Three Perfections” (三絕). This piece is an example of collaboration between two artists: a painter and a poet, who also left their calligraphic marks in distinctly different semi-cursive styles.

Kōgai was a painter who specialized in the bird-and-flower genre (kachōga 花鳥画, in Japanese). Over the course of his life, he received several awards at art exhibitions. Kozan, meanwhile, was one of the most important writers working in Chinese poetry (kanshi 漢詩) during the second half of the 19th century. He studied medicine, Confucianism, and Chinese poetry; for a short time, he served as a government official, before dedicating himself fully to poetic composition.