Popular Deities, Sages, and Immortals
date: label: Date
content: late 17th-early 18th century
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Hanabusa Itcho 英一蝶 (1652-1724)
notes: label: Description
content: Signature and three seals. Silk makimono.
label: Signatures
content: Hokusōō Itchō ga　北窓翁一蝶画
label: Marks
content: Artist's seal: Kochūten 壺中天 (?)
label: Marks
content: Artist's seal: Hanabusa shi 英氏
label: Marks
content: Artist's seal: Hanabusa shi 英氏
label: Label
content: In Zen (Chinese: Chan) Buddhism, the sages of Chinese legend-Kanzan (Chinese: Hanshan ) and the temple attendant Jittoku (Chinese: Shide)-became important exemplars of enlightenment in outwardly unconventional form. Here, in a scroll of humorous depictions of deities, sages, and immortals, the reclusive poet Hanshan playfully touches Shide's forehead with his calligraphy brush as Shide naps with his broom in hand.
label: Label
content: In the following scene to the left, a Chinese immortal both startles and delights a young boy by conjuring a hobby horse from a gourd. According to Chinese legend, this immortal had a magical white mule that he could fold up and insert into a gourd. When he needed his mule for travel, he could revive it to its original form by spritzing it with water. This amusing transformation of the familiar story employs a form of visual play on words and images known as mitate, a popular entertainment in the Edo period (1615-1868).
label: Provenance
content: To 1904
label: Provenance
content: Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921), Kidderminster, England, to 1904 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1904 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Michael Tomkinson in 1904 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Kakemono and Makimono List, L. 443, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Games, Contests and Artful Play in Japan (March 19 to October 23, 2005)
label: Exhibition History
content: Religious Art of Japan (December 18, 2002 to January 4, 2015)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: child
label: Topic
content: Kanzan
label: Topic
content: Jittoku
label: Topic
content: Daoist Immortals
label: Topic
content: torii gate
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: ukiyo-e
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1904.138
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (painting): 25.3 × 342.6 cm (9 15/16 × 134 7/8 in)