Page 446 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

247 248 249
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1724-1770) Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1724-1770) Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1724-1770)
Daikokuten as a Woman Ebisu as a Young Man Pilgrimage on a Rainy Night
1765 1765 Late 17605
Color woodblock print Color woodblock print Color woodblock print
3
3
7
24.8 x 19.1 (9 /4X 772) 26x19.8(1074x7 / 4) 27.6 x 20.5 (io /s x 87s)
Tokyo National Museum Tokyo National Museum Tokyo National Museum
Important Art Object Important Art Object
Illustrated page 388
Illustrated page 388
• Daikokuten, one of the seven gods • A young woman balances a wind-
of good fortune, is usually shown as a • Ebisu, a god of good fortune, who is blown lantern in her tiny hand; its
portly old merchant man in Chinese usually depicted as a corpulent old candle appears to be unlit, but by 445
costume and cap. In this "transposi- fisherman, is shown here in a mitate convention the lantern suggests a
tional" or mitate image, the male version as a wakashu (an elegant nocturnal setting. As rains and winds
deity is represented by a svelte young young man) in effeminate garb. He buffet her fragile body and tear at
woman. She is gently poised on a has the identifying attributes of the her umbrella, she betrays not an hint
bale of rice while holding the sacred god of wealth: the fishing pole and of discomfiture in her midnight pil-
mallet, one of Daikokuten's attributes, a wheeled wooden toy in the shape grimage. The solid, bright red posts
said to confer good luck and riches. of a sea bream, a fish whose Japanese of the shrine entrance suggest her
Both the mallet and rice bale are name has propitious connotations destination. Though we have no
specific clues, from
our knowledge
decorated with a magic jewel motif, for the New Year because it sounds
representing the vital forces of yin like medetai, or "auspicious." The of the customs referred to in other
and yang, the complementary male wakashu's robes are decorated with Harunobu prints with shrine settings,
and female principles. Daikokuten's toy ship motifs, a reminder of the we may deduce that the young
woman is on her way to pray for the
sack is full of precious objects, which treasure ship that served as a vessel
he bestows freely on children. for the seven gods of good fortune. success of a new relationship or to
place a hex on a rival lover. Haru-
The print has passed through the This work was designed as a calendar nobu's genius was in the creation of
hands of two distinguished collectors. print, with the numbers of the long such emotionally suggestive settings
The red rectangular seal in the left months hidden in the design of in which to place his vision of eter-
corner indicates it was once owned by the fish. The earliest calendars were nally youthful beauty. JTC
the noted painter Kawanabe Kyósai printed sheets showing long and
(1831 -1889), an avid collector of Edo short months (daishó no surimono) —
art, who was renowned for his dexter- the only information they provided
ity in a wide array of painting styles. was which months had twenty-nine
The small oblong seal beneath Kyôsai's days and which had thirty, a disposi-
is one used by Henri Vever, a French tion that varied from year to year.
jeweler who was one of the great Such calendar prints were privately
western collectors of ukiyoe early in commissioned and distributed among
this century. In the 19203 Vever sold friends who shared literary or artistic
a number of prints from the early interests. Many designs that began
stages of his collecting to Matsukata as calendar prints were reissued in
Kôjirô, who subsequently donated commercial editions, as was the case
most of them to the Tokyo National with the series including the preced-
Museum. JTC ing print (cat. 247). JTC