hanging scroll;
painting
- Museum number
- 1881,1210,0.2276
- Description
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Painting, hanging scroll. Tanuki (racoon dog) in field standing on back feet and gazing at sky. Ink and colour on silk. Signed and sealed.
- Production date
- 1800-1880
- Dimensions
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Height: 187 centimetres (mount)
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Height: 103.20 centimetres
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Width: 58 centimetres (mount)
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Width: 41 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Hizo Nihon bijutsu taikan Vol 3
Mori Ippo (1798-1871) was not a blood relation of the Mori family, but studied painting with Tetsuzan and, marrying the latter's daughter Ryu, was adopted into the family to eventually become its head.
This picture of a raccoon dog has a typically relaxed, humorous atmosphere. The treatment of the animal's fur is extremely coarse, very far from the soft fur, done with painstaking delicacy, and the natural rendering of animal behavior, seen in Sosen's animal pictures. Nevertheless, the amusing expression and posture of the raccoon dog - who gazes raptly at the moon and seems possibly to be drumming on his belly as raccoon dogs are supposed to do in Japan - have a heartwarming poetry.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1881
- Acquisition notes
- The collection of over 2,000 Japanese and Chinese paintings assembled by Prof. William Anderson during his residency in Japan, 1873-1880, was acquired by the Museum in 1881. The items were not listed in the register, but rather were published separately as the 'Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of a Collection of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum' (Longmans & Co, 1886).
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1881,1210,0.2276
- Additional IDs
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Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.2424 (Japanese Painting Number)