Squirrels Gathering Chestnuts
ca. 1887
Medium
Album leaf; ink and gold on silk
Dimensions
14 1/4 x 10 3/4 in. (36.2 x 27.3 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Meiji period (1868–1912)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Charles Stewart Smith Collection, Gift of Mrs. Charles Stewart Smith, Charles Stewart Smith Jr., and Howard Caswell Smith, in memory of Charles Stewart Smith, 1914
Accession Number
14.76.61.27
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the whimsical *Squirrels Gathering Chestnuts*, created around 1887 by the eccentric Japanese artist Kawanabeōsai, a lively scene unfolds on a delicate album leaf of ink and gold on silk Measuring just 14¼ x 10¾ inches, this intimate format was prized in Japan for personal albums, allowing collectors to savor small-scale masterpieces. Kyōsai, a master of the late Edo and early Meiji periods, infuses the composition with his signature humor and dynamic brushwork, depicting squirrels in anthropomorphic antics—busily foraging amid autumnal abundance. During Japan's Meiji era (1868–1912), a tim...
About the Artist
Kawanabe Kyōsai 河鍋暁斎 (Japanese) · 1831 –1889
Japanese, 1831–1889