Since the Edo period, Unkei Eii has been understood, based on descriptions in books such as “Honcho Gashi (A History of Japanese Painting)” and “Gako Binran (Handbook of Painters),” to be an artist who “studied painting techniques under Sesshū and resided at Mount Koya.” From surviving records and works, he is known to have been a successor to the Sesshū styl. He is known to have been active mainly in the Suo and Nagato regions (present Yamaguchi prefecture) for approximately 50 years, from the Eishō period (1504-21) to the Tenbun period (1532-55). Approximately 30 surviving works remain, spanning a wide range of work, including Buddhist paintings, portraits, and votive plaques.

Each hanging scroll bears the signature “Unkei” and a red square seal reading “Eii.”