The Rakan Handaka Sonja with Dragon

1820 ( year of the dragon)

Not on view

This woodblock print design by the highly esteemed artist Utagawa Hiroshige shows a dragon magically emanating from the alms bowl of an arhat (disciple of Buddha) depicted in a hanging scroll. It is an extremely rare surviving example of a surimono, or privately published woodblock print, from early in Hiroshige’s career. Surimono like this one were often commissioned by poetry groups or individual poets—from the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century—as a form of New Year’s greeting card. This print celebrated spring of the year of the dragon, 1820. To our knowledge, only two other impressions of this print survive, and it is a rarity among rarities from the corpus of the young Hiroshige, still in his early twenties when he created this.

The rakan Handaka Sonja (Sanskrit: Arhat Panthaka) is one of the sixteen disciples of Buddha often depicted together. Whether in paintings or netsuke carving he is usually shown accompanied by his pet dragon which he keeps in a bowl (as here) or in a gourd.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: The Rakan Handaka Sonja with Dragon
Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1797–1858 Tokyo (Edo))
Artist: Inscribed by Chōtei Kusumi
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: 1820 ( year of the dragon)
Culture: Japan
Medium: Woodblock print; surimono print
Dimensions: Image: 8 1/4 × 6 3/8 in. (21 × 16.2 cm)
Framed: 16 3/4 × 14 1/4 in. (42.5 × 36.2 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Miki and Sebastian Izzard, 2017
Object Number: 2017.284
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Utagawa Hiroshige

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Small View of Yedo, Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese, Print, Japanese — Small View of Yedo
Utagawa Hiroshige
1817–58

Hiratsuka, Nawate Do, Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Hiratsuka, Nawate Do
Utagawa Hiroshige
ca. 1834

Yokkaichi, Sanchokawa, Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Yokkaichi, Sanchokawa
Utagawa Hiroshige
ca. 1834

Snow on the Sumida River, Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Snow on the Sumida River
Utagawa Hiroshige
ca. 1835

Reflections of the Moon in the Rice Fields of Sarashina in Shinshu, Utagawa Hiroshige Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Reflections of the Moon in the Rice Fields of Sarashina in Shinshu
Utagawa Hiroshige
ca. 1832

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.