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Monkey and Wasp

	Object Type	19th Century Japanese Scroll
	Artist	Sosen
	Period	Middle Edo
	Materials	Sumi on Paper Scroll
	Creation Date	ca.1820
	Dimensions	103.5 cm x 28.5 cm (40 3/4" x 11 1/4 ")

Commentary

This depicts a sitting monkey waiting for a chance to catch a flying wasp. The combination of a monkey and a wasp is a traditional theme. Unlike the "Monkey with Cricket", the brush strokes are swift, creating the natural gradations. This trend started toward the later years of his life. Signature "Sosen" and seal "Toshusho" at the left bottom. At the age of sixty, in 1807 he changed the radical of his Chinese character "so" for "ancestor" to a character that has a meaning of "monkey." Based on this information, this painting dates between age sixty-one to his death at seventy-five. (Kono)