Zhong Kui and Demons Hunting 鬼猟図巻

Object Details

• Artist

  Tomioka Tessai 富岡鉄斎 (1836-1924)

• Label

  Zhong Kui, a demon hunter in Chinese mythology, was extremely popular in Japan, where he was called Shoki. Images of Shoki were often used to invoke divine intervention in curing an illness. Here, Tessai depicted Shoki as a smug scholar-official, while his retinue of demons, a motley crew of goofy creatures, struggles with their weapons and animals.

• Provenance

  To 2015

  Shibunkaku, Kyoto [1]

  From 2015 to 2018

  Mary and Cheney Cowles, Seattle, WA, purchased from Shibunkaku on April 20, 2015 [2]

  From 2018

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, Seattle, Washington [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Per information provided by the Cowles. See Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection 2018 Gift List for Freer/Sackler, object file, Collections Management.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See Deed of Gift, object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Imagined Neighbors: Japanese Visions of China, 1680–1980 (March 16 to September 3, 2024)

  Meeting Tessai: Modern Japanese Art from the Cowles Collection (August 13, 2022 to January 28, 2024)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Cheney Cowles

  Mary Cowles

  Shibunkaku 思文閣

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1920s, 1860s

• Name

  Cowles, Mary, Shibunkaku, Cowles, Cheney

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Handscroll, Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Art, Zhong Kui, Demon, Japanese Art, Taisho era (1912 - 1926), Meiji era (1868 - 1912)

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings