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At the Hour of the Horse on the 8th Day of the 5th Month, People Born in Earth and Water Signs Enter a Lucky Cycle (Gogatsu yôka uma no koku dosei suisei no hito uke ni iru): Actor Onoe Kikugorô IV (?) with Masks of Fukusuke and Fukujo


「五月八日午刻土性水性之人有卦ニ入」 四代目尾上菊五郎ヵ
Utagawa Yoshitsuna (Japanese, active about 1848–1868)
Publisher: Kagaya Yasubei (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
1858 (Ansei 5), 4th month

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 37.2 x 26 cm (14 5/8 x 10 1/4 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.37308
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

DescriptionAccording to yin-yang divination (onmyôdô), luck followed a cycle of seven good years and then five bad years, according to one's year of birth. The ages of people in the lucky categories are listed.
Signed Ittôsai Yoshitsuna ga
一登斎芳綱画
Marks Censor's seal: Horse 4
No blockcutter's mark
改印:午四
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 MFA. (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.