Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is a silver painting by the Nihonga artist Shibata Zeshin. It dates from 1837 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work thus represents both the depicted object and Zeshin's broader artistic project of treating lacquer as a painterly medium.
Shibata Zeshin's Untitled (1837) is a still life depicting a hand fan. As a lacquer-on-silver-paper album leaf, the work belongs to a tradition in which everyday objects were rendered with refined material craftsmanship, transforming a utilitarian accessory into a subject worthy of artistic contemplation.
The fan carries layered cultural meaning in Japanese visual culture, associated with elegance, seasonal leisure, and the rituals of the courtly and samurai classes. By isolating the fan as the sole motif on a small album leaf, Zeshin invites attention to its form and surface, where the reflective silver ground and applied lacquer would have heightened the object's decorative presence.
The pairing of lacquer with silver paper is itself symbolic of the artist's signature technique, in which the materials themselves elevate an ordinary item into something precious. The work thus represents both the depicted object and Zeshin's broader artistic project of treating lacquer as a painterly medium.
Technique & Style
Shibata Zeshin's 1837 Untitled is an album leaf executed in lacquer on silver paper, a distinctive medium choice that highlights the artist's mastery of lacquerware applied to a two-dimensional support. Classified as a still life, the work depicts a hand fan, rendered with the formal precision characteristic of the genre. The piece measures 12.1 cm in height and 8.9 cm in width.
Created in Japan, the work combines the lustrous quality of silver paper with the durability and texture of lacquer, demonstrating a specialized handling of materials typical of Zeshin's innovative approach to painting on non-traditional surfaces.
History & Provenance
Shibata Zeshin produced the untitled album leaf in 1837 in Japan, employing lacquer on silver paper to depict a hand fan; the work measures 12.1 cm by 8.9 cm. It is classified as a still‑life painting within the broader category of paintings. The piece remained in the artist’s native context until it entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is presently housed; the museum’s records list the work’s inception as 1837‑01‑01 and identify it as part of their holdings. No earlier owners or commissioning details are documented.
The work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is listed as a painting by Shibata Zeshin, created in 1837, and is documented as part of the museum's holdings. The entry records its dimensions as 12.1 cm by 8.9 cm and notes that it was produced in Japan.
No inventory or accession number is provided in the available records, and the available sources do not indicate any documented exhibition history for this piece.
Overview
Shibata Zeshin’s untitled work, executed in 1837, is a small-scale painting on an album leaf of lacquer applied to silver paper. The composition centers on a single black hand fan laid flat, its structural ribs highlighted in gold. The piece measures only a few centimeters, yet it commands attention through its precise rendering of an everyday object.
Artist & collection
