Woman Playing a New Year's Game of Battledore and Shuttlecock
Unknown Artist
18th century
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
30 5/8 x 10 1/4 in. (77.8 x 26 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Henry J. Bernheim, 1945
Accession Number
45.97.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delightful hanging scroll from 18th-century Japan captures joyful moment of a woman engrossed in a New Year's game of battledore and shuttlecock—known as *hane-tsuki* in. Rendered in ink and light colors on paper, the intimate vertical format (30 5/8 x 10 1/4 in.) is typical of hanging scrolls, which were unrolled and displayed on special occasions like festivals, evoking a sense of seasonal celebration in domestic settings. Created during the Edo period (5–1868), a time of relative peace and booming urban culture in Japan, the artwork reflects everyday leisure amid prosperity. New Year'...