One Hundred Good Fortunes

Object Details

• Artist

  Konishi Kosui (born 1856)

• Label

  Each of the cheerful women in this picture is engaged in an everyday task or leisure activity, such as the preparation of food or the performance of music and dance. Their plump figures and faces, most of which have exaggerated foreheads, resemble the Japanese popular deity of prosperity and mirth known variously as Uzume, Otafuku, or Okame. The name Uzume is abbreviated from Ame no Uzume no Mikoto who is said to have been the deity who performed a dance to lure the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami out of her cave. Masks shaped with her distinctive features were used for comic dances.

  The theme of this picture was inspired by a literal reading of the name Otafuku, meaning "many fortunes," or "abundant luck." Here the artist multiplies the images of the happy and fortunate goddess one hundred times to create a highly entertaining scene full of activity and humor.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Life and Leisure: Everyday Life in Japanese Art (August 14, 2004 to February 20, 2005)

  Japanese Art of the Meiji Era (September 20, 1997 to April 26, 1998)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — funds provided by the bequest of Edith Ehrman

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1930s, 1860s

• Name

  Kosui, Konishi

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Musical instruments, Art, Drums (Membranophones), Shamisen, Japanese Art, Meiji era (1868 - 1912), Kakemono

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings