Haruki Nammei, Mt Fuji from Edo Bay, a hanging scroll painting

Japan, mid-19th century AD

We look past a collection of sea-going cargo-ships towards Tsukuda and Ishikawa Islands, with the shoreline of Edo Bay to the right and snow-covered Mt Fuji in the distance. A solitary cormorant perches on the tip of one of the masts, which dips down in a V-shape in inverted complement to the slopes of the mountain.

Nammei was a highly eclectic artist of the late Edo period (1600-1868). Here he has depicted Fuji using a 'boneless' (mokkotsu) style, with washes of ink and colour.

T. Clark, 100 views of Mount Fuji (London, The British Museum Press, 2001)