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Silkies

Mori Sosen Japanese
before 1807
Not on view
This tour de force of avian painting captures the subtle coloration and soft plumage of a cluster of seven silkies, a breed of chicken known for its fluffy, fur-like feathers. Also striking is the dark blue flesh of their wattles and earlobes, and the presence of five toes, rather than four, as most chickens have. In Japanese they are called ukokkei (Chinese: wuguji), which literally means "chickens with raven-black bones." They were raised to be eaten, and in China soup made from silkies is believed to have curative properties. Marco Polo, during his travels in Asia in the thirteenth century, wrote of encountering such peculiar furry chickens: "There is a strange thing there which I needs tell you ... they have a kind of fowls which have no feathers, but hair only, like a cat’s fur."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 森狙仙筆　烏骨鶏図
  • Title: Silkies
  • Artist: Mori Sosen (Japanese, 1747–1821)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: before 1807
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 33 3/4 x 51 in. (85.7 x 129.5 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 72 5/8 x 60 1/16 in. (184.5 x 152.5 cm)
    Overall with knobs: 63 9/16 in. (161.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Fishbein-Bender Collection, Gift of T. Richard Fishbein and Estelle P. Bender, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.419.3
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Monkey, Mori Sosen Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan
Monkey
Mori Sosen
style of 18th century
Monkeys at Play, Mori Sosen Japanese, Diptych of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk, Japan
Monkeys at Play
Mori Sosen
late 18th century–before 1807
Stag Cleaning a Fawn, Mori Sosen Japanese, Fan, mounted on ribs; ink and light color on coated fan paper, Japan
Returned to lender
Stag Cleaning a Fawn
Mori Sosen
ca. 1806–21
Stag amid Autumn Flowers, Mori Sosen Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan
On loan to The Met
Stag amid Autumn Flowers
Mori Sosen
before 1807
Case (Inrō) with Design of Seated Monkey Looking at a Wasp (obverse); Crabs with Fan beside Waves (reverse), Mori Sosen Japanese, Metal, brass metal, incised, various applied metals; Interior: silver metal, Japan
Case (Inrō) with Design of Seated Monkey Looking at a Wasp (obverse); Crabs with Fan beside Waves (reverse)
Mori Sosen
19th century

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