Ox, from the series "Twelve Signs of the Zodiac"

Ox from the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac is the ushi (ox) plate from Seihō's zodiac album, here catalogued by the Japanese Art Open Database in a vertical impression of approximately 53 by 39 cm. The composition shows the ox in a restrained palette of grey tones — Seihō was particularly admired for his ability to construct a complete picture from gradations of [sumi](/glossary/sumi) and pale wash, and the ox plate is one of the album's clearest demonstrations of that economy. The animal occupies most of the sheet against an unprinted ground, modelled through brush wash rather than line. The plate bears Seihō's red name-seal in the corner. Like the other album sheets, this print is a woodblock reproduction of a brush original; the carvers in the Yamada Naosaburō / Unsōdō workshop preserved Seihō's brushwork as faithfully as the medium allowed. The ox year (ushi-doshi) is the second animal in the East Asian zodiac and was traditionally associated with patience, perseverance, and agricultural labor — appropriate themes for the new-year gift prints that the album generated. Seihō's handling of bovine subjects reaches back to his Bairei training and shows the residual influence of the Maruyama Ōkyo school's careful animal studies. The Japanese Art Open Database notes a light horizontal center fold and some light wrinkling but otherwise excellent condition.