Accession Number
1986/1.164

Title
A Pair of Camels

Artist(s)
Mori Tetsuzan (Tessan)

Object Creation Date
1st half of the 19th century

Medium & Support
hanging scroll, ink and color on paper

Dimensions
42 1/2 in. x 11 1/8 in. ( 107.9 cm x 28.2 cm )

Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

Subject matter
Camels are not native to Japan and appear to have been brought over by the Dutch. Tetsuzan was part of the Shijo school which focused on naturalistic painting, hence the live animal subject matter. The inscription above could be poetry or some explanation of the subject. 

Physical Description
This is an ink painting of two camels. The camels are centered toward the bottom of the hanging scroll with an inscription above it reading right to left (from the viewer's pov). One camel looks off to the right of the page while the other camel behind the first one bows down to the left and appears to be grazing. The main inscription is five lines. To the right at the beginning is a red stamp. At the end on the left is what appears to be a signature and two red stamps. Below the inscription and just above the camels on the left is perhaps another signature with a red stamp. 

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
hanging scroll

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
Japan
calligraphy
camels
hanging scroll