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金時の節分
At the Setsubun festival in Japan, celebrated on the day before the lunar New Year, it is customary to throw handfuls of dry soybeans to scare away demons, while chanting “Demons out, good luck in!” (Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi). In this fan print, meant to be cut out and pasted onto a bamboo frame to make a flat fan, the bean-thrower is the child hero known as Kintarō, who will grow up to be the mighty warrior Sakata Kintoki, one of the retainers of the famous demon-fighter Minamoto Yorimitsu (Raikō).
Kintoki Throwing Beans at Fleeing Demons
金時の節分
Japanese
Edo period
1840s
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Uchiwa-e cut from horizontal aiban sheet; 22.3 x 25.6 cm (8 3/4 x 10 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.26057
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
At the Setsubun festival in Japan, celebrated on the day before the lunar New Year, it is customary to throw handfuls of dry soybeans to scare away demons, while chanting “Demons out, good luck in!” (Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi). In this fan print, meant to be cut out and pasted onto a bamboo frame to make a flat fan, the bean-thrower is the child hero known as Kintarō, who will grow up to be the mighty warrior Sakata Kintoki, one of the retainers of the famous demon-fighter Minamoto Yorimitsu (Raikō).
Signed
Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
一勇斎国芳画
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.