Images(2)

Bull and Rider

Dateearly 17th-late 19th century

Label TextHerder boys are often seen herding buffaloes in Chinese and Japanese paintings, but in this painting, the boy riding a galloping bull is chasing a bat. The addition of the bat alters the painting’s meaning. The Chinese word for “bat” is a homophone with the word for “fortune,” and such a visual pun was adapted by the Japanese. Instead of searching for enlightenment as in Chan/Zen paintings, the boy here is chasing fortune.

Object number34.152

Photo CreditPhoto: Spike Mafford

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view July 16 - Dec. 5, 2021].Published ReferencesFuller, Richard E., Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 174

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

DimensionsImage: 36 3/8 × 11 in. (92.4 × 27.9 cm) Overall: 64 1/4 × 11 7/8 in. (163.2 × 30.2 cm); with knobs: 64 1/4 × 13 1/2 in. (163.2 × 34.3 cm)

MediumHanging scroll: Ink on paper