Description
This print is from a group in which famous Kabuki theater actors who never performed together stand in for the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. Images of the Seven Gods symbolize hope for fortune in the coming year, and the set may have been made for the New Year of 1780. Here, Onoe Matsusuke I poses beneath curtains at the entrance to a place of business. They read, “House of Ebisu.” Ebisu is the god of fishermen, which may account for the wave imagery on the actor’s inner robe.
Provenance
William S. Spaulding [1865–1937] and John T. Spaulding [1870–1948]; (American Art Association, November 16, 1921 sale, lot 248) (November 16, 1921); (Yamanaka & Co., sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1921); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1921–)
Accession Number
1921.1280
Medium
color woodblock print
Dimensions
Sheet: 31.5 x 14 cm (12 3/8 x 5 1/2 in.)
Classification
Credit Line
Gift from J. H. Wade
