唐獅子図の衝立 |Mother and her Children in Front of a Freestanding Screen of a Chinese Lion

Art Historical Context

In the vibrant world of Edo-period Japan (1615–1868 this 1786 woodblock print, *Mother and her Children in Front of a Freestanding Screen of a Chinese Lion (唐獅子図の衝立), captures a tender domestic moment. Created as a luxurious *surimono*—a privately commissioned print often exchanged as a New Year's greeting—it features the talents of three ukiyo-e masters:iyama Sekien, renowned for his supernatural illustrations and mentorship of many artists; his student Kitagawa Utamaro celebrated for his exquisite bijin-ga (images of beautiful women); and Toriyama Sekichūjo, likely Sekien's daughter. Printed in ink and color on paper in the horizontal ōban format (10 7/8 × 15 3/8 in.), it exemplifies the collaborative artistry of woodblock printing, where designers, carvers, and printers worked in harmony. The scene depicts a graceful mother and her playful children gathered before an ornate freestanding screen adorned with a fierce yet majestic Chinese lion (*karajishi*), a symbol of protection and imperial power borrowed from Chinese iconography and popular in Japanese decorative arts. These screens, or *byeobu*, were status symbols in affluent homes, blending everyday family life with mythical grandeur—a hallmark of ukiyo-e's "floating world" aesthetic, which romanticized beauty and transience. This rare collaborative *surimono* highlights the innovative spirit of late 18th-century Japanese printmaking, where personal commissions allowed for embossing, mica, and vibrant pigments not common in mass-produced works. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art collection, it invites us to appreciate the warmth of familial bonds amid artistic splendor.

About the Artist

Toriyama Sekien 鳥山石燕|Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿|Toriyama Sekichūjo 鳥山石仲女 (Japanese) · 1712 –1788

Japanese, 1712–1788