Daikoku Pounding Mochi
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.One of the Seven Lucky Gods of Good Fortune, Daikoku is a Japanese folk god of wealth. He was originally introduced to Japan as a member of the Buddhist pantheon, but along with Ebisu, became widely worshipped in the early Edo period as a god of success and happiness, particularly among merchants and urban commoners.
Shōhaku has painted Daikoku with his head covered in its usual black cloth and his sleeves rolled up, about to swing his enormous pestle into the rice in the round mortar. He is making mochi, a sticky rice paste prepared as a treat to celebrate the New Year. The spontaneous and brusque brushwork suggests that this work may have been created impromptu, with the artist surrounded by onlookers at a social gathering.
Shōhaku has painted Daikoku with his head covered in its usual black cloth and his sleeves rolled up, about to swing his enormous pestle into the rice in the round mortar. He is making mochi, a sticky rice paste prepared as a treat to celebrate the New Year. The spontaneous and brusque brushwork suggests that this work may have been created impromptu, with the artist surrounded by onlookers at a social gathering.
Artwork Details
- Title: Daikoku Pounding Mochi
- Artist: Soga Shōhaku (Japanese, 1730–1781)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: ca. 1772–81
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 31 1/16 × 13 11/16 in. (78.9 × 34.7 cm)
Overall with mounting: 62 3/8 × 18 1/8 in. (158.5 × 46 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by Feinberg Collection
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art