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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
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
Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese
Armor (Gusoku)
Armorer Helmet bowl signed Saotome Ietada
Armorer Breastplate inscribed inside, Myōchin Munesuke
16th and 18th centuries
Hawk at sunrise, Jeong Hong-Rae 정홍래 鄭弘來 Korean, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Korea
Hawk at sunrise
Attributed to Jeong Hong-Rae 정홍래 鄭弘來
second half 18th century–first half 19th century
Monkey, Mori Sosen Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan
Monkey
Anonymous, in the style of Mori Sosen
style of 18th century
Helmet (<i>Zukinnari Kabuto</i>), Iron, lacquer, Japanese
Helmet (Zukinnari Kabuto)
Japanese
16th century

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