Daikoku and Ebisu

hanging scroll

Japanese Collection

Accession Nr.: 1846
Type: painting; hanging scroll
Artist/Maker:
Date of production:
first half of the 19th century
Edo (Tokugawa) period
Place of production:
Acquisition: collected by Péter Vay
Signed: the signature of Gyōshin
Marks: the artist’s red stamp
Materials/Techniques: ink and colours on silk
Dimensions: height: 135 cm
width: 60.5 cm
mirror: 53.3 × 56.2 cm
The younger of the two, Ebisu, is shown with a huge fish on his back and a bamboo fishing rod on his shoulder: he is the most important patron of produce from the sea. Daikoku is shown sitting on two baskets of rice. He is smiling broadly, holding a huge sack on his back with one hand, while in the other hand he raises a hammer.