Ohara Koson (小原古邨) / Shōson (祥邨) (artist 1877 – 1945)
"Monkey in a Persimmon Tree" ("Kaki ni Saru" - 柿に猿)
1935
9.5 in x 11 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print
Signed: Shōson (祥邨)
University of Michigan
Lyon Collection - a Koson print of a monkey holding a wasp by its stinger
Honolulu Museum of Art - gift of James Michener A little monkey seated on a persimmon tree branch reaches for a persimmon quite near a wasp's nest.
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Illustrated
1) in black and white in Modern Japanese Prints: The Toledo Museum of Art by Dorothy Blair, 1997 (reprint of the 1936 catalog), pl. #209.
2) in a small color reproduction in Crow, Cranes, and Camellias: the Natural World of Ohara Koson 1877-1945, by Amy Reigle Newland, et al., #S41.5, p. 201.
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Jerry Vegder wrote:
There is an exhibition right now of Edo Period paintings from the Price collection showing at the Sackler Gallery on the Mall in Washington, D.C. One of the works is a hanging scroll by Mori Sosen (1747-1821: 森狙仙 or もり・そせん) of a monkey 'tracking' a wasp. In a review in the Washington Post (November 15, 2007) Joe Price notes that this image is actually a visually pun. The words for wasp and fiefdom rhyme - hachi and hochi - as do the words for monkey and lord.* The moral: Watch out! If you are given a fiefdom by your lord you might get stung.
*My understanding of Japanese is not good enough to prove this concept right or wrong, but sometimes you just have to accept certain bits of information on faith. Besides, it sounds reasonable to me.
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The publisher was Watanabe Shōzaburō.
Watanabe Mokuhan Bujitsu Gahō (渡邊木版美術画舗) (publisher)
modern prints (shin hanga - 新版画) (genre)
Shōwa era (昭和時代) (genre)