Image

Kitao Shigemasa 北尾重政

Child as Benzaiten Playing a Toy Zither

Description

Maker

Attributed to Kitao Shigemasa 北尾重政 (Japanese, 1739-1820

Title

Child as Benzaiten Playing a Toy Zither
from the untitled series Children as the Seven Gods of Good Fortune
Shichifukujin

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

1780s

Medium

polychrome woodblock print

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Polychrome woodblock print

Materials

ink and color

Supports

paper

Geography

Place Made: Japan

Dimensions

Vertical ōban: 38.6 x 26.4 cm (15 3/16 x 10 3/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

White square label with red border affixed verso, top right with inscription in ink: B

Signature: unsigned

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.1368

Type

Prints

Exhibition History

Striking Chords

Music in *Ukiyo-E* Prints

Feb 05, 2022 – Jul 31, 2022

Label copy

A seated girl, garbed in a robe patterned with chrysanthemums, strums a seven-string koto. The child represents the goddess Benzaiten, deity of music and happiness. Benzaiten is commonly portrayed with a lute, but here the goddess-girl is charmingly shown with a toy version of a traditional Japanese zither, a musical instrument that was highly popular during the Edo period. The print is from an untitled series that playfully depicted children as the deities of good fortune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yb0jJ5kiIQ

Happiness and Longevity

Deities of Good Fortune in Japanese Prints

Dec 05, 2003 – Feb 29, 2004

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Attributed to Kitao Shigemasa 北尾重政 (Japanese, 1739-1820
b. in Edo)

Child as Benzaiten Playing a Toy Zither; from the untitled series Children as the Seven Gods of Good Fortune; Shichifukujin, 1780s

Polychrome woodblock print

Vertical ōban: 38.6 x 26.4 cm (15 3/16 x 10 3/8 inches)

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates 13.1368

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.