# Lotus Root and Rat

- By: Shibata Zeshin (Tokyo, 1807–1891)
- Date: 1817 - 1891
- Medium: ivory, paper, linen (material), goudbrokaat
- Classification: hanging scroll
- Dimensions: height 112 cm x width 30.5 cm
- Credit line: Gift of J.P. Filedt Kok, Amsterdam
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/AK-RAK-2015-2-1--6eb8c49aae1ea8e04756d6fe9bf28c5c)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/JQIAt/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Shibata Zeshin was a successful lacquerer and print designer, as well as a painter. Here he created a simple, yet refined composition, with the tiny figure of the rat on the large lotus root. The animal’s fur is rendered with subtle brushwork, which like the colours and texture of the lotus root, was applied while the paper was still wet.