Tiger
Tiger
Tiger
Tiger

Currently not on view

Tiger,

1736

Ninkai 仁海, active 18th century
Japanese
Edo period, 1603–1868
2008-333
A tiger perches on the edge of a craggy rock and roars up at the sky as waves crash underneath. Ninkai likely never saw tigers, which are not indigenous to Japan. Thus, he looked to previous models, especially those by the Chinese artist Shen Quan (1682–1759), who was stationed in Nagasaki for about two years. Compared to Ganku’s tiger, on view here, Ninkai’s looks like a smaller striped cat. Nonetheless, its open mouth and big round eyes convey fierceness, a characteristic valued in tigers throughout East Asia.

Information

Title
Tiger
Dates

1736

Maker
Ninkai 仁海
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
Painting: 126.8 x 53.4 cm. (49 15/16 x 21 in.) Mount: 198 x 68.6 cm. (77 15/16 x 27 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Asian Art Fund
Object Number
2008-333
Place Made

Asia, Japan

Signatures
Signed upper left: 丙辰夏, 無礙 "Summer 1736, Mugai” (or perhaps pronounced Muge, Mukai)
Marks/Labels/Seals
Artist, "Shaku Ninkai" 釋印仁海, square intaglio, upper seal on top left "Ichiji Ekishū" 一字益洲, square relief, lower seal on top left "..." 類天不齋, rectangular intaglio, bottom center
Culture
Japanese
Period
Edo (Japanese period)
Type
japanese painting styles, paintings, scroll paintings, hanging scrolls
Materials
ink, paper (fiber product)
Subject
waves (natural events), rock (inorganic material), tigers

–2008 Sekisen Gallery (Kyoto, Japan), sold to the Princeton University Art Museum, 2008.

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