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Egrets and Crows

late 19th century
Not on view
The two panels of this brilliant gold-leaf screen display contrasting scenes of two egrets at rest and three crows in flight, with white and black forms counterbalancing each other to mesmerizing effect. The white color of the egrets was accomplished by cutting out the gold-leaf layer and exposing the paper, a technique the artist used on other examples of avian painting. Shibata Zeshin was predominantly known as a master lacquer craftsman, and also incorporated the technique into his paintings. Here, the lacquer employed in place of ink adds a rich, black sheen to the surface. This tour-de-force composition, originally mounted on two separate framed wooden panels, pictorially blends elements of the Maruyama-Shijō school, in which Zeshin first trained, with features of Rinpa art.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 柴田是真筆　烏鷺図屏風
  • Title: Egrets and Crows
  • Artist: Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
  • Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
  • Date: late 19th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Individual panels remounted as a two-panel folding screen; colored lacquer, white pigment, and gold leaf on paper
  • Dimensions: Image (each panel): 53 1/2 x 36 in. (135.9 x 91.4 cm)
    Overall (each panel): 60 7/8 x 39 1/4 in. (154.6 x 99.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Fishbein-Bender Collection, Gift of T. Richard Fishbein and Estelle P. Bender, 2011
  • Object Number: 2011.572.3
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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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