Horses and Attendants
CultureJapanese
Datefirst half 16th century
MediumSix-fold screen; ink and color on paper
DimensionsOverall: 44 × 120 inches (111.76 × 304.8 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number33-8/1
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionPainting of six horses in separate stables; in the foreground, the grooms are eating and there are other people looking at the horses.Gallery LabelHorses were used in the military in Japan from as early as the 5th century C.E. Samurai, Japan’s martial warlords, so admired fine steeds that they had their prized horses commemorated in paintings. Here, six horses in varying colors are shown tethered in their flawlessly clean, wood-planked stables. Several stablemen eat and cavort, oblivious to the horses’ charms. On the left side of the painting a nobleman and his children admire the animal. Because most Japanese screens were made in pairs, this painting would originally have had a mate.
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