A new Online Collections portal will launch on February 9th.
Object information on this site was last updated on January 15th, 2025 and will be static until then.
Search Results:Viewing Record 1 of 1 | |
| Maker(s): | Ho (?); Yoshihide (?) | | Culture: | Japanese
| | Title: | Story of Sesshū (1421-1507)
| | Date Made: | 19th-20th century
| | Type: | Netsuke/Inro/Ojima
| | Materials: | Wood and ivory; carved with polychrome pigments
| | Place Made: | Asia; Japan
| | Measurements: | Overall: 1 1/2 in x 7/8 in x 1 3/8 in; 3.8 cm x 2.2 cm x 3.5 cm
| | Narrative Inscription: | INSCRIPTION/SIGNATURE: bottom: [Japanese character, Yoshihide].
| | Accession Number: | MH 1986.30.97
| | Credit Line: | William Richter Collection, Gift of Margaret Ruth Richter (Class of 1939)
| | Museum Collection: | Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
|
|
|
Description:
Japanese netsuke. A boy (Sesshū) in a brown robe with branch and floral patterns, with his hands tied on the back, grasping a brush with his toes and dipping it into an inkwell. Three rats on his robe, one of which on the back chewing the rope that ties his hand.
Label Text:
Sesshū was one of Japan’s most prominent landscape painters of the 15th century. A popular legend states that, as a child, the artist was tied to a temple pillar as penance for being disobedient. Using his own tears, he drew pictures of rats in the surrounding dust and they sprang to life, chewing the cords that bound his hands and feet. This exquisite netsuke depicts Sesshū grasping a brush with his toes and dipping it into an inkwell while three rats scurry to free him.
Tags:
legends; animals Subjects:
Animals Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+1986.30.97 |
|
Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information
or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.
|
17 Related Media Items
