森狙仙筆　烏骨鶏図|Silkies

Mori Sosen

before 1807 · Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk · Asian Art

This tour de force of avian painting captures the subtle coloration and soft plumage of a cluster of seven silkies, a breed of chicken known for its fluffy, fur-like feathers. Also striking is the dark blue flesh of their wattles and earlobes, and the presence of five toes, rather than four, as most chickens have. In Japanese they are called ukokkei (Chinese: wuguji), which literally means "chickens with raven-black bones." They were raised to be eaten, and in China soup made from silkies is believed to have curative properties. Marco Polo, during his travels in Asia in the thirteenth century, wrote of encountering such peculiar furry chickens: "There is a strange thing there which I needs tell you ... they have a kind of fowls which have no feathers, but hair only, like a cat’s fur."

Artist

Mori Sosen

Date

before 1807

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Fishbein-Bender Collection, Gift of T. Richard Fishbein and Estelle P. Bender, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2019