優闐王と唐獅子図絵馬「奉掛御宝前 絵馬 寛永丁卯年三月廿五日」|Ema (Votive Painting) of Chinese Lion Led by Utenō

Created in 1627, this votive painting (ema) is executed in ink and color applied directly onto a wooden support. The work measures 27.3 cm in height and 36.5 cm in width. Stylistically, it depicts a man leading a Chinese lion, adhering to the religious genre typical of Japanese ema intended for temple offerings.

The anonymous artist utilized traditional materials to render the figures, combining ink outlines with colored pigments on the wood panel.

The work known as 'Utenō and the Tang Lion' is housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is listed as part of the museum's holdings of Japanese religious paintings, though no accession number is provided in the source material. The painting, created in 1627 using ink and color on wood, portrays a lion accompanied by a man and is categorized under religious art. Exhibition histories for this piece are not documented in the referenced sources.

The 1627 votive ema titled 'Utenō and the Chinese Lion' portrays a lion guided by the figure Utenō and belongs to the religious paintings genre of early Edo Japan. Executed in ink and color on wood, the work measures 27.3 cm by 36.5 cm and is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is catalogued as an anonymous piece. Scholarship emphasizes its role in illustrating cross‑cultural motifs within Japanese devotional art and situates it among contemporaneous ema that functioned as prayer offerings.

Although the anonymity of the creator limits direct stylistic attribution, comparative analyses highlight its technical refinement and its significance for understanding artistic exchange between China and Japan during the Kanei era.

This votive plaque, an ema, consists of a wooden board painted with ink and color. The central image shows a figure, identified as the Chinese ruler Utenō, guiding a large, curly‑maned lion on a red leash. The plaque bears the date 1627 (Kan'ei 4, 3rd month, 25th day), placing it among the earliest surviving examples of painted ema.

As one of the oldest dated painted ema, the plaque serves as a reference point for scholars studying the evolution of shrine votive art and the integration of Chinese motifs into Japanese religious expression.