Kono Bairei was a Japanese Painter, Art teacher, and Book Illustrator. He was born on March 3rd, 1844 in Kyoto, Japan. He was a member of the Ukiyo-e school of painting, and became a master for Kacho-e, or the depiction of birds and flowers. One characteristic of Bairei’s art is the Western-style realism that he added to his pieces, making his work very important in determining what the wildlife of Japan was like at that time. Many of his works were published in books, usually classified by the type of animals he was painting. The piece we have here comes from one such book, entitled Bairei Gafu, or Bairei’s Painting Album.