Zodiac Surimono
Indai
1866
Medium
Color woodblock print; surimono
Dimensions
24.7 × 18.5 cm (9 3/4 × 7 5/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
42653
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Surimono prints were often exchanged at New Year’s, and it was common for such prints to refer to the zodiac animal of the year. Sometimes these animals were prominently depicted (as in Portrait of a Rabbit), but often they were cleverly disguised (as in Rabbit and Fish). In this print, Indai depicted the 12 animals of the zodiac in a brass-dust pigment, giving them the appearance of gold silhouettes against a paper background. The animals are placed in chronological order, with the tiger (the ...