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狂斎百図 「一寸さきハやみ 人をいのらば穴二つ」
Wearing burning candles on her head, a woman has gone to a shrine at midnight to curse an enemy by nailing a straw doll to a tree. A Buddhist guardian deity points out the metaphorical second hole, implying that by cursing another person she has also condemned herself to the scene of hell that appears in the background. This early work shows Kyōsai’s fondness for the grotesque, as well as his careful study of Western-style anatomical illustrations.
Darkness Is But a Step Away (Issun saki wa yami), Dig a Pitfall, Make Two Holes (Hito o inoraba ana futatsu), from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
狂斎百図 「一寸さきハやみ 人をいのらば穴二つ」
Kawanabe Kyôsai (Japanese, 1831–1889)
Japanese
Edo period
1863–66 (Bunkyû 3–Keiô 2)
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Vertical yotsugiri (quarter ôban); 18.8 x 12.5 cm (7 3/8 x 4 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.22643
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
Wearing burning candles on her head, a woman has gone to a shrine at midnight to curse an enemy by nailing a straw doll to a tree. A Buddhist guardian deity points out the metaphorical second hole, implying that by cursing another person she has also condemned herself to the scene of hell that appears in the background. This early work shows Kyōsai’s fondness for the grotesque, as well as his careful study of Western-style anatomical illustrations.
Catalogue Raisonné
Kaikan sanjû shûnen kinen Kawanabe Kyôsai kinen bijutsukan cat. (2008), p. 103, #0791 (sheet of 4); Tokita, E de tanoshimu Edo no kotowaza (2005), p. 202; Oikawa, Clark & Forrer, Comic Genius: Kawanabe Kyôsai/Kyôsai giga kyôga ten (1996), #122-7
DescriptionMFA impressions:
Uncut sheet: 11.45393.10
Right side only: 11.22643, 11.36995, 11.45800.42
Left side only: 11.22638, 11.37007
Uncut sheet: 11.45393.10
Right side only: 11.22643, 11.36995, 11.45800.42
Left side only: 11.22638, 11.37007
Signed
Kyôsai ga
狂斎画
狂斎画
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)
NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.
NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.