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Autumn Grasses in Moonlight

second half of the 19th century
Not on view
In Japan, gazing at the moon and listening to the sounds of insects have long been tranquil ways to spend an autumn evening. Seen from a low vantage point, the full moon illuminates the unseen world in a tangle of autumn grasses, where various types of crickets are highlighted with shiny lacquer pigment. The silver background further enriches the dreamlike atmosphere. This small screen is of a type used at tea gatherings.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 月に秋草図屏風
  • Title: Autumn Grasses in Moonlight
  • Artist: Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
  • Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
  • Date: second half of the 19th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Two-panel folding screen; ink, lacquer, silver, and silver leaf on paper
  • Dimensions: Image (each panel): 18 in. × 33 1/4 in. (45.7 × 84.5 cm)
    Each panel, with frame: 26 1/8 × 34 3/8 in. (66.4 × 87.3 cm)
    Overall with frame (both panels): 26 1/8 in. × 69 in. (66.4 × 175.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.268.137
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

Audio

Cover Image for 8910. Autumn Grasses in Moonlight

8910. Autumn Grasses in Moonlight

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More Artwork

More Artwork
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Case (Inrō) in the Shape of an Ink Stick with Design of God of Longevity (Jurōjin), Reading beneath a Star Constellation (obverse);Twelve-Character Inscription (reverse), Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Roiro (waxen) lacquer with black hiramakie sprinkled and polished lacquer and takamakie sprinkled and polished lacquer relief; Interior: roiro; Netsuke: lacquer in shape of a worn ink stick; Ojime: black lacquer bead, Japan
Case (Inrō) in the Shape of an Ink Stick with Design of God of Longevity (Jurōjin), Reading beneath a Star Constellation (obverse);Twelve-Character Inscription (reverse)
Shibata Zeshin
19th century
Poem Card (Tanzaku) Box with Flower Bouquet, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Lacquered wood with gold, silver, color, takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, and togidashimaki-e, Japan
Poem Card (Tanzaku) Box with Flower Bouquet
Shibata Zeshin
19th century
Rising Sun, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan
Rising Sun
Shibata Zeshin
second half of the 19th century
Three Men Looking at Framed Lacquer Drawing, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Album leaf; lacquer on gold paper, Japan
Three Men Looking at Framed Lacquer Drawing
Shibata Zeshin
Village among Rocks, Shibata Zeshin Japanese, Colored lacquers on paper, Japan
Village among Rocks
Shibata Zeshin
19th century

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Shibata Zeshin - Autumn Grasses in Moonlight - Japan - Meiji period (1868–1912) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art