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Tsunoda, M, 2024. Shen Nanpin And Japanese Nanpin School paintings through art historical And material analysis, focussing on the British Museum collection. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.
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Abstract
This thesis explores the relationship between Chinese painter Shen Nanpin (1682- c.1760) and the Japanese Nanpin School. It focuses on identifying painting materials and techniques associated with Nanpin, through research into contemporary painting treatises and material analysis of paintings. A select body of Nanpin paintings held in Japan is compared with seventeenth and eighteenth-century paintings from the Chinese Yangtze delta area, the Japanese Tosa and Kanō Schools, and the Nanpin School, now held in the British Museum collections. The study shows that the style of Shen Nanpin’s work entitled Rabbits and Plum Blossom at the British Museum aligns with his authenticated works and adheres to the Song court painting style.
To gain a better understanding of painting techniques and materials, the painting treatises Ransai gafu and Ransai gafu kōhen, written by Nanpin School painter Mori Ransai (1740-1801) to introduce the work of Shen Nanpin, are translated and compared to treatises by other contemporary Chinese and Japanese painters, and then considered in relation to the selected Nanpin paintings in Japan and the British Museum. Non-invasive scientific analysis, conducted in collaboration with the NTU ISAAC Lab, was carried out on the selected paintings in the British Museum. The results of this analysis are compared with descriptions in the painting treatises. Significantly, the study identifies the reverse painting technique in several of the Nanpin School paintings in the British Museum. This technique, mentioned in Ransai gafu, enabled Nanpin and Nanpin School painters to achieve their characteristic bright colours and realistic three-dimensional shading. By contrast, only limited use of reverse painting was found in traditional Tosa and Kanō School Japanese paintings in the British Museum. The thesis explores Nanpin’s application of the Chinese philosophical concepts of yin and yang and the ‘Supreme Ultimate’ to painting composition; his use of free ink brush work (xieyi); and his possible adoption of elements of Western realism.
While Nanpin’s and Nanpin School paintings share similar limited primary palettes, they differ in the use of white pigments: Nanpin used lead-based white similar to other Chinese paintings, while Nanpin School works used calcium-based white, most likely shell white, in line with other Japanese paintings of the Edo period (1603-1867). The silk used by Nanpin is similar in structure to silk from Yangtze delta area, indicating that it was made in China. By contrast, the silk used by Nanpin School painters is very different in structure, resembling Tosa and Kanō Schools, implying that it was made in Japan.
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Tsunoda, M. |
| Contributors: | Name Role NTU ID ORCID |
| Date: | February 2024 |
| Rights: | The copyright on this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5 % of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination, Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author. |
| Divisions: | Schools > School of Arts and Humanities |
| Record created by: | Jeremy Silvester |
| Date Added: | 23 Jan 2026 16:06 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2026 16:06 |
| URI: | https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55116 |
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8490-209XActions (login required)
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