Meiji Period Shunga Painting on Silk, the Seven Lucky Gods at a New Year Revel, Mica, Gold and Silver, 129 cm
Meiji Period Shunga Painting on Silk, the Seven Lucky Gods at a New Year Revel, Mica, Gold and Silver, 129 cm
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- États-Unis · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $387, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
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- Character
- Resplendent 9 of 10 ·
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- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
Where each figure is taken · View the plate
Object, sculpture and ceramics
Condition report
Very Good
- Giftable
- Mint
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Honest Wear
- As Found
The Lucky Gods Unbuttoned
Warai-e turned shunga into comedy, and the Seven Lucky Gods were its favourite clowns. This large silk painting packs the whole company into one glittering room, surrounded by their own emblems: the sack, the halberd, the sea bream and Daikoku's mouse. It is a New Year joke painted with real care and real gold.
Best for: Collectors of shunga, warai-e and Meiji painting on silk
Condition notes
Painted surface bright, with mica and metallic flecks intact. Light soiling at the edges, a central fold where the two silk panels meet, and traces of a removed backing on the reverse.
Grades, ratings and commentary are given to the best of our ability, knowledge and experience, and condition remains partly a matter of personal perception. What we stand behind without qualification is authenticity, truthful description and provenance, to the best of our knowledge. How we grade
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The Seven Lucky Gods abandon their dignity in a gilded room: a large painting on silk, Meiji period, worked in colour with mica, gold and silver.
The Piece
Warai-e, laughing pictures, were the comic face of shunga, and the gods of good fortune behaving badly were a favourite joke. Here the Shichifukujin crowd into one room with a company of courtesans: the beaming Hotei, two white-bearded elders and the helmeted guardian Bishamonten, tumbled together in a knot of robes and hairpins.
Around them lie their attributes. Hotei's great treasure sack slumps against the wall, a halberd leans before a calligraphy panel, a red sea bream lies on a black lacquer stand beside a sake flask, and a white mouse, the messenger of Daikoku, nibbles at fallen rice cakes. Walls and panels glitter with mica and flecks of gold and silver; the cursive verses on the panels belong to the painting.
Details
- Type: Shunga painting (warai-e), unmounted
- Subject: The Seven Lucky Gods with courtesans
- Medium: Colour, mica, gold and silver on silk
- Construction: Two silk panels joined, with a central fold
- Period: Meiji period (1868 to 1912)
- Size: About 129 x 58 cm (50.8 x 22.8 in)
Measured by hand; please allow a gentle margin of about 1 cm (0.4 in).
Condition
- Colours, mica and metallic flecks remain bright.
- Light soiling around the edges, and a central fold where the two panels meet.
- The reverse shows traces where an earlier backing was removed.
- Small discs seen in some photographs were placed over details for discretion and are not part of the work.
Condition grade B (very good, light wear) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Date and description are as presented to the Desk. A conservator can line and mount the silk; until then keep it flat, away from light and damp.
Delivery from Japan
Packed flat by hand between rigid boards, folded only along its existing central fold, and shipped discreetly, insured and tracked, by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything you wish to know before you buy, and see our published policy.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally. More awaits in The Private Room and in our essay on shunga.
Concierge
Seeking another comic painting of the lucky gods? Our Hunting Salon™ locates such pieces across Japan's private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers them to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
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