About: Ishūretsuzō

Ishūretsuzō (夷酋列像), also known as or A Series of Paintings of Ainu Chieftains or Portraits of Ezo Chieftains, is a series of twelve painted portraits, dating to 1790, of Ainu elders in the aftermath of the Menashi–Kunashir rebellion. They are by the Japanese artist and Matsumae Domain retainer Kakizaki Hakyō (1764–1826). Eleven of the twelve paintings survive, in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon. A number of preparatory drawings and copies are to be found in collections in Japan. The clothing worn and other accoutrements depicted help cast light on late eighteenth-century connections between the indigenous inhabitants of Ezochi, the Wajin, China, and Russia. The portrait of Ininkari from the series also represents the earliest known documentation of b