Der Sack als Kissen
Hotei Asleep on His Bag
Two Hotei menuki in gold, each a single reclining figure. On one, Hotei lies stretched out behind his great bag, smiling, one arm thrown wide. The bag fills the front of the piece, engraved with fine lines and tied off at the left. On the other, he has sunk forward onto the bag with his head bowed, as if asleep. His robe is engraved with small flowers.
JAANUS, the dictionary of Japanese art terms, describes Hotei as a semi-legendary wandering monk of tenth-century China, named for the cloth bag he carried. In Japan his full bag and contented look placed him among the seven gods of good fortune. In painting, JAANUS notes, he is usually shown seated or sleeping on his bag.
The menuki carry no signature and no paper, and no school is named for them here. On a sword hilt, under the hand that would draw it, the god of good fortune is asleep.
Menuki. Mumei. Kin. Hotei, auf seinem Sack ruhend. Edo-Zeit. Privatsammlung, erworben in Europa.
In the collection
- Type
- Tosogu › Menuki
- Period
- Edo-Zeit
- Material
- Kin
- Motif
- Götter und Glücksbringer
