Flying Crow
Artist/Culture
Shibata, Zeshin
(Japanese, 1807–1891)
Date1870s
Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper; tsuyazumi (gloss black)
Dimensions25 x 24.5 cm (9 13/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineHarriet B. Bancroft Fund
Object number2006.344
Label TextThis shikishiban format print of a crow (small, more abundant Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) depicted as a solid mass with feathers and eye highlighted with tsuyazami ("shiny sumi") is very representative of Shibata Zeshin, a very famous as a lacquer artist, Shijo school painter and print designer. Tsuyazami ("shiny sumi") was achieved by a technique which involved printing two dense layers of black (sumi), using the best available pigment with an extra addition of nikawa (animal glue). After printing the surface of the black is burnished with a piece of ivory or tooth until it reflected the light. This technique was often used to render shiny black hair or lacquer.ProvenanceEgenolf Gallery, Burbank, CAOn View
Not on view
