The persimmon was known in Japan long before it reached Europe, and the fruit carries an old name, the food of the gods, earned by ripening late in the year after most trees have finished. Kaki Persimmon was lifted out of the larger Bonsai Garden design and given a life of its own, on the strength of the tree alone.
It is painted in Japanese watercolour, and the medium governs the character of the whole design: colour laid thin, edges allowed to bleed a little into the paper, no outline holding anything in. The tree is drawn small and complete, in the bonsai manner, so the repeat is made of individual specimens rather than of a continuous branch. That gives the wall an even, quiet rhythm and a good deal of open ground.
Printed on a non-woven base, it is one of the more forgiving patterns to live with. The scale is modest, the drawing light, and there is nothing in it that will tire in a small room. It suits a bedroom, a bathroom or a landing, and it was conceived to sit alongside Meditation Stone and Bonsai Garden, which share its hand. Good natural light shows the washes at their best; under lamps the palest passages tend to recede.
