Tiger Licking Its Paw

The endearing pose of a tiger licking his paw was a standard theme among Chinese painters of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). The Japanese painter Tawaraya Sōtatsu might have seen such a painting but instead of imitating the precise, descriptive brushwork of Chinese-style ink painters, he rendered this tiger in pale tonalities, applying the ink with a relatively large brush. Sōtatsu, son of a wealthy merchant, was a pioneer of the decorative Rinpa style and is today recognized as one of the most prominent artists of Japan. By the late 1620s, he was painting for the imperial court and was the first member of the merchant class that received the honorary Buddhist ecclesiastical title hokkyō (Bridge of the Law).