Playful demons

Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1870s-1880s

Height:

127.0 cm  (50 in.)

Width:

50.0 cm  (19 11/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

ink and color on silk

Place of creation:

Nihon [Japan] (日本国)

School:

Meiji

Description

Hanging scroll showing multiple demonic figures involved in mischievous activities, often including making music with varieties and sizes of sticks, drums, and plucked string instruments.

Iconclass

43C755
mischief-making play
11K
devils(s) and demons
11K31
devils in purely fantasy shape

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Beater [6071]
Shamisen [3451] (with plectrum)
Taiko [2741]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Kanda, Christine Guth. Asobi: Play in the arts of Japan (Katonah, N.Y.: Katonah Museum of Art, 1992) pl. 20.

Clark, Timothy. Demon of painting: The art of Kawanabe Kyoosai (London: The British Museum Press, 1993).

Notes

Meiji period (1868–1912)

RIdIM record id

6190