1985.556: The Twelve Zodiac Animals as Poets (Jūnishi Kasen)
Paintings
This object does not yet have a description.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1985.556
- People
-
Attributed to Kano Shōun, Japanese (1637 - 1702)
- Title
- The Twelve Zodiac Animals as Poets (Jūnishi Kasen)
- Other Titles
- Transliterated Title: Jūnishi Kasen
- Classification
- Paintings
- Work Type
- handscroll, painting
- Date
- Early Edo period, late 17th century
- Places
- Creation Place: East Asia, Japan
- Period
- Edo period, 1615-1868
- Culture
- Japanese
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/210644
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Handscroll; ink, color and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- H. 35.8 x W. 378.9 cm (14 1/8 x 149 3/16 in.)
- Inscriptions and Marks
-
- Signed: two seals of Suenobu (Kanō)
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of the Hofer Collection of the Arts of Asia
- Accession Year
- 1985
- Object Number
- 1985.556
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
The works of famous Japanese poets from different historical periods were copied, compiled, and pitted against one another in "competitions" that mirrored actual poetry contests held at court. The competing verses were sometimes accompanied by depictions of their authors. A tradition of painted poet "portraits" evolved in tandem with a taste for realism during the Kamakura period (1185-1333), although the images were based on imagined likenesses rather than on actual appearance.
This scroll satirizes those earlier literary and pictorial legacies by portraying the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar) in the guise of traditional Japanese poets. Each wears a sumptuously rendered costume--the tiger, rabbit, and dragon in the robes of high-ranking male courtiers; the snake in the exquisite multilayered dress of a court lady. Each is seated against a gold-misted ground beneath an appropriate verse.
Verification Level
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu