Horse Pattern (Koma shōbu), from the series Horses
Katsushika Hokusai Japanese
Not on view
This surimono is one of thirty-three prints in a set that was commissioned for the year of the horse in 1822. However, the images are not of horses but are conjured up from words associated with the animal. The print illustrates a fan and a tobacco pouch above a tissue case. The tobacco pouch is made of deerskin dyed with a pattern of horses and dandelions in a technique known as shōbūkawa.
Hokusai's intentionally paradoxical signature reads Fusenkyo Iitsu hitsu ("painted by Iitsu in his Nonpainting Studio").
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
