Shadows without Shading (Kuma naki kage)
Shibata Zeshin Japanese
Not on view
This book is a collection of silhouette portraits of a group of literary friends. Each page includes a short biography with an illustration, a shadow portrait and a kyōka (satirical poem). The title of the book suggests a double meaning: "shadows without shading," and probably also "shadows without hidden thoughts inside." Rather than depicted realistically, the figures in shadows may be portrayed as their true selves, revealing unreserved thoughts in their satirical poems. Zeshin designed the frontispiece for this lavishly printed volume.
Silhouette, portraits done in this manner were in fashion particularly about the mid-nineteenth century. This book is one of the representative examples of the form.
