Long-Tailed Cock — 動植物多宝塔

This kacho-e print depicting a long-tailed cock — likely the Japanese Onagadori breed, known for its dramatically elongated tail feathers — belongs to the 動植物多宝塔 series, a compendium of animal and plant subjects. Hasui rendered the bird's plumage with fine key-block linework describing individual feather barbs, while flat or gradated color areas fill the body and tail. The long tail feathers cascade downward in a rhythmic arc that the vertical oban format accommodates naturally, echoing compositional strategies seen in earlier Meiji-era bird prints. Background elements — a branch, bamboo, or a wash of sky — situate the bird without distracting from the central subject. Although Hasui is most celebrated for his landscape prints, his kacho-e work demonstrates the same attentiveness to observed natural form and the same technical reliance on the collaborative printmaking workshop that produced his snow and rain landscapes.