an ōtsu painting of a rat

Keisai Eisen, artist

1790–1848

an ōtsu painting of a rat, 1828, Edo period (1600–1868)

Portfolio/Series title: Nezumi ōtsu (Twelve Rat Treasures)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: color woodcut

Dimensions:
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 206.4 x 187.3 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 8 1/8 x 7 3/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: Gift of Rose K. Auerbach

Accession number: 1967.0027

Not on display

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Archive Label date unknown:
The artist Eisen thought that the founder of ukiyo-e was a provincial seventeenth-century painter named Iwasa Matabei, pictured with his rough Ōtsu paintings on the wall. He contrasts the painter with the crisply drawn young woman, as though he were tracing the progress of ukiyo-e from its humble origins to its peak of elegance and refinement in his own day. The print is part of a series published for a Rat Year.