The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Imaginary Portrait of Shundai Dazai

late 1700s–1800s

Tani Bunchō

(Japanese, 1763–1841)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Overall: 130.8 x 38.1 cm (51 1/2 x 15 in.); Painting only: 38 x 26.8 cm (14 15/16 x 10 9/16 in.)
The Kelvin Smith Collection, given by Mrs. Kelvin Smith 1985.248
Location: Not on view

Description

Shundai (1680–1747) was a noted Confucian scholar and writer. Brought up with a strongly Confucian family background, Bunchō’s veneration for Shundai is understandable. The inscription is by Nozawa Hikoroku, a scholar and poet contemporary with Bunchō.
  • (Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Kelvin Smith)
    –1985
    The Kelvin Smith Collection, Cleveland, OH, given by Mrs. Kelvin [Eleanor Armstrong] Smith [1899–1998] to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1985–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hillier, Jack Ronald. Japanese Drawings of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Catalogue. Washington, D.C.: The Foundation, 1980.
    “Checklist of the Kelvin Smith Bequest.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 7 (September 1988): 292–295. Mentioned: p. 294 www.jstor.org
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 120). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 13-November 11, 2004).
    A Private World: Japanese and Chinese Art from the Kelvin Smith Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14-November 13, 1988).
    Japanese Drawings of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Japan House Gallery, New York, NY (April 4-May 18, 1980); St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (June 6-August 24, 1980); Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (September 16-October 26, 1980).
  • {{cite web|title=Imaginary Portrait of Shundai Dazai|url=false|author=Tani Bunchō|year=late 1700s–1800s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.248