Kitao Shigemasa 北尾重政

With an hourglass instead of the usual miniature pagoda in his right hand and a military fan (gumbai) in his left, this boy represents Bishamonten (Sanskrit: Vaisravana), the fierce Guardian of the North in the Buddhist pantheon. Traditionally Bishamonten is depicted as a ferocious warrior. His association with material wealth has its source in an old Indian myth that the riches of the soil are concentrated in the northern quarter of the earth.