Early Edo period, late 17th century
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.
H. 35.8 x W. 378.9 cm (14 1/8 x 149 3/16 in.)
Hanging scroll mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk
18th-19th centuryKoreanTwo handscrolls; ink on paper
19th centuryJapanesePair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper
18th centuryJapaneseOil on panel
17th centuryFrenchOil on canvas
20th centuryAmericanHandscroll; ink and color on silk
ChineseOil on canvas
20th centuryAmericanAlbum leaf; ink, color and gold on paper
19th centuryChineseSixth panel from a six-panel folding screen; ink on paper; the painting with signature of the artist reading "Ch'ui-ŭn" ("Drunken Hermit")
17th centuryKoreanOil on canvas
19th centuryAmericanAlbum leaf; ink and color on silk
ChineseHandscrolls: two; ink and light color on paper; dragon and tiger subject
17th centuryJapanese