Eri's Choice · VD5B
Eri's Choice is a design that does not keep strictly to one style; it is Master Takase's own artistic choice.
猿も木から落ちる
saru mo ki kara ochiru
Even Monkeys Fall Out Of Trees
Even monkeys fall out of trees.
by Master Eri Takase
Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Eri Takase received the rank of Shihan, master, from two calligraphy societies, the Bokuteki-kai and Bunka-shodō, and won best-of-category awards in all-Japan national competitions. She has created calligraphy for people around the world for more than thirty years, and with your order she will be creating calligraphy for you.
In a ritual as old as calligraphy itself, Master Takase prepares the ink, meditatively rubbing the ink stick against the stone until it reaches the perfect consistency for the paper. Then, properly loading the brush with ink, she brushes your scroll. And only when the scroll is just right and meets her approval, she signs it and affixes her seal, completing your original scroll.
12 1/4" × 43" (31 × 109 cm) Japanese Scrolls
The scrolls have woven damask borders and special layered Japanese paper (washi), designed to last generations by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, with whom we have worked for over two decades.
Gift-Ready
Your scroll arrives boxed, with a printed insert describing the words in detail.
Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it with the insert.
Ships in 1-3 days from Washington State
Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days.
Your scroll ships from Master Takase's studio in Washington State. Shipping is calculated at checkout. We ship worldwide.
30-day money-back guarantee
Every order is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If your scroll arrives damaged, or we made an error, we replace it or refund you in full, including shipping.
Explanation
猿も木から落ちる is a whole scene: a monkey, a tree, and a fall. も means even: the fall can happen to the best of them. In the Japanese dictionaries its sense is narrower than nobody is perfect: the skilled person slips at the very thing they are best at. In use it goes two ways: a warning not to relax where you are good, and an excuse for a slip, whether the expert's own or that of anyone less skilled.
The proverb's oldest known witness is a haikai verse in 鷹筑波集, an anthology printed in 1642 and dated by Teitoku's note of 1638, which makes the autumn leaves fall with it and calls it a たとへ, a saying; a book of sayings set it down in 1656.
Learn More About These Words
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 猿も木から落ちる.
