Tiger 1800 - 1868

Editor: This drawing, simply titled "Tiger," comes from the Hokusai School and dates from around 1800 to 1868. It’s done in ink, and there’s something almost playful about its ferocity. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It's interesting that you use the word playful. I think we have to understand this image within a specific socio-political context. Remember that during the Edo period in Japan, direct depictions of power were often sublimated. The tiger, an animal not native to Japan, becomes a symbolic stand-in for something else entirely. Editor: So, you're saying the tiger isn't just a tiger? Curator: Precisely. Consider who might have commissioned or acquired such a work. It would have likely been members of the samurai class or wealthy merchants, groups who were navigating complex power dynamics within a rigid social hierarchy. The tiger, therefore, represents a kind of raw, untamed authority. This also intersects with gender. Consider the tiger’s association with strength and virility, characteristics historically assigned to men in positions of power. Editor: That's a completely different reading than what I had! So, the seemingly "playful" aspect could be a way of softening the image, making the power it represents more palatable? Curator: Exactly! It’s a negotiation. A way to possess, symbolically, a power that might be otherwise unattainable or dangerous to wield directly. What do you make of its depiction alongside dragons? Editor: Wow, I hadn't even thought about that connection to dragons. Now that you mention it, the symbolic weight of the tiger feels a lot heavier, less about animal depiction and more about layered social commentary. I'll definitely look into those Edo power dynamics. Curator: Precisely! The art truly becomes a reflection of a community at large.