Fox with Staff (Hakuzōsu)

after 1848

Not on view

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.

Artwork Details

Title: Fox with Staff (Hakuzōsu)
Artist: Eiraku Hozen (Japanese, 1795–1854)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: after 1848
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Image: 38 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. (97.8 x 28.6 cm)
Overall with mounting: 68 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. (174 x 29.8 cm)
Overall with knobs: 68 1/2 x 14 in. (174 x 35.6 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: The Howard Mansfield Collection, Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1936
Object Number: 36.100.95
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Eiraku Hozen

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Teabowl with Rising Sun and Crane, Eiraku Hozen Japanese, Stoneware with cream slip under a white slip and polychrome enamels, gold, and silver over a transparent glaze (Kyoto ware, Eiraku type), Japan — Teabowl with Rising Sun and Crane
Eiraku Hozen
mid-19th century

Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese — Armor (*Gusoku*)
Armorer Helmet bowl signed Saotome Ietada
Armorer Breastplate inscribed inside, Myōchin Munesuke
16th and 18th centuries

Grapevine and Squirrels, Unidentified artist, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Korea — Grapevine and Squirrels
Unidentified artist
early 19th century

Incense Container (Kōgō) in the Shape of a Clamshell, with Cranes (exterior) and Tortoise Motifs (interior), Eiraku Hozen Japanese, Porcelain with cobalt blue under (interior) and red and gold over (exterior) transparent glaze (Kyoto ware, Eiraku type), Japan — Incense Container (Kōgō) in the Shape of a Clamshell, with Cranes (exterior) and Tortoise Motifs (interior)
Eiraku Hozen
first half 19th century

Shō, Bamboo wood, metal, Japanese — Shō
Japanese
19th century

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