Untitled

Eiraku Hozen

after 1848 · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

A Kyoto potter with close ties to the literati in his city and a similar taste for Chinese styles, Hozen was known for his highly colored wares and for his use of gold. A different side of his urbanity comes through in this rather personal painting, perhaps tempered by the business failures he experienced in his later years. A few economic brush strokes create the figure of a fox-priest, the protagonist in the comic kyōgen play The Fox Trapper (Kirigitsune). The enigmatic poem cautions: Beware of those who have renounced the world although they wear the robes of priests at heart they are foxes still.

Artist

Eiraku Hozen

Date

after 1848

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936