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Sucharaka Music for Catfish, above; The Story of Enma and His Son (Enma no ko no wake), below


「ゑんまの子のわけ」 (鯰絵)
Japanese
Edo period
about 1855 (Ansei 2)

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 35 x 24.3 cm (13 3/4 x 9 9/16 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.38643
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Ôkubo, Namazu-e (Nat'l. Mus. of J. History, 2021), #15; Tomizawa, Nishiki-e no chikara (2005), chart 4, #82, photo p. 91; http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/YoukaiGazouCard/U426_nichibunken_0171.html
DescriptionIn the lower half of the picture, Enma, the King of Hell, and the Bodhiszttava Jizô who rescues people from Hell, appear in the role of a father and son working on the massive earth-moving project at Goten-yama in Takanawa. Because the shape of their headgear was thought to resemble Enma's crown, workers on the project were called "sons of Enma" or "sons of Jizô."
Signed Unsigned
無款
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.