The Mansion of the Plates (Sara yashiki), from the series "One Hundred Ghost Tales (Hyaku monogatari)"
1831-32
Medium
Color woodblock print; chuban
Dimensions
25.5 × 18.6 cm (10 1/16 × 7 3/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
47407
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This print illustrates the legend of a woman murdered by her husband because she accidentally broke plates. Her corpse and the pieces of the dishes were thrown into a well, but her ghost returned every night to haunt him in the eerie form seen here. The Art Institute’s collection boasts one of the most well-preserved and appreciated editions of Katsushika Hok usa i’s One Hundred Ghost Tales series (1831–32). The artist apparently planned to produce a full hundred images, but the series was not ...
About the Artist
Katsushika Hokusai · 1760–1849
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) stands as one of history's most influential artists, a Japanese master who revolutionized the ukiyo-e woodblock print tradition and profoundly shaped Western art. Born in the Katsushika district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to an artisan family, Hokusai lived through nearly nine decades of extraordinary creative evolution, adopting over thirty different artistic names t...