Painting of A Cat

“Painting of A Cat” is speculated to be one of the paintings from the “Nitta Cat Paintings” series, created by a minor hatamoto samurai during the Edo period as a means of earning money to pay for sankin-kotai. The Nitta Cat Paintings were popular as charms for warding off mice, and as good-luck charms for silkworm farmers. This subdued piece was made using two types of wood, walnut and Japanese arrowroot. The fine lines making up the whiskers were made by inlaying wood, and the grain of the camphor wood used for the background is also a work of art in its own right.