Tangerine and Chinese Legend

Description

This print is a finely produced summer scene with a tangerine and nuts on embossed chrysanthemum-design paper. The upper-left edge shows a piece of paper from the back, cleverly indicating the paper on which the objects were placed.
The paper (with its characters in reverse) describes the biography of the Chinese hero Baili Xi, who was an influential prime minister of the state of Qin during the Spring and Autumn Period in ancient China. With the guidance of Baili, the Qin state was able to wage war and make peace with its neighbors, becoming the greatest power in the west. As on who combined learning and statesmanship, Baili thus became a hero for the literati of the Far East.

Tangerine and Chinese Legend

Kosei

spring 1871

Accession Number

42893

Medium

Color woodblock print; surimono

Dimensions

27.2 × 18.5 cm (10 3/4 × 7 5/16 in.)

Classification

woodblock print

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Charles H. Mitchell Collection unrestricted gift