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「海上安全万代寿」
Following his historic trip to Kyoto to confer with the emperor in 1863, the shogun returned to Edo on the new, steam-powered battleship Jundō-maru. Kyōsai expressed his support for the shogun’s mission by showing an assortment of Japanese deities protecting the ship. A procession of foxes, messengers of the rice god Inari, leads the divine entourage in imitation of the shogun’s own standard-bearers. Although it supports the government, the print could not legally identify its subject and so has only a vague title.
Congratulations on Maritime Security for All Eternity! (Kaijô anzen bandai kotobuki)
「海上安全万代寿」
Japanese
Edo period
1863 (Bunkyû 3), 7th month
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Vertical ôban triptych; 35.7 x 74.5 cm (14 1/16 x 29 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.36777a-c
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
Following his historic trip to Kyoto to confer with the emperor in 1863, the shogun returned to Edo on the new, steam-powered battleship Jundō-maru. Kyōsai expressed his support for the shogun’s mission by showing an assortment of Japanese deities protecting the ship. A procession of foxes, messengers of the rice god Inari, leads the divine entourage in imitation of the shogun’s own standard-bearers. Although it supports the government, the print could not legally identify its subject and so has only a vague title.
Catalogue Raisonné
Yamamoto, "Chiyoda Inari," Ukiyo-e geijutsu 161 (2011), pp. 14-5, fig. 4; Bakumatsu Meiji no tensai eshi Kawanabe Kyôsai ten (1998), #89; Clark, Demon of Painting (1993), p. 114, fig. 73.1; Konishi, Nishiki-e Bakumatsu Meiji no rekishi 3 (1977), pp. 10-1
Signed
Ôju Chikamaro
応需周麿
応需周麿
Marks
Censor's seal: Boar 7 aratame
No blockcutter's mark
改印：亥七改
彫師：なし
No blockcutter's mark
改印：亥七改
彫師：なし
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850–d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Accession Date: January 19, 2005)
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.