Rats and rice bales
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1904.132
Tags
Charles Lang Freer collectionEdo period (1615 - 1868)JapanJapanese Artratriceukiyo-e
About this artwork
Rice bales are traditional emblems of wealth in pictures of the popular god Daikoku, one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. Daikoku is not shown, but his association with this symbol of wealth, which he usually protects, may be one of many meanings embedded in this unusual picture. Perhaps it represents the fragility of accumulated wealth or possibly competition for survival among social groups or classes. This image may have expressed such meanings more vividly in the aftermath of the devastati...