The Tale of Shuten Dōji

Object Details

• Artist

  Kano Shoun (1637-1702)

• Calligrapher

  Higashizono Motokazu (1653-1710)

• Label

  This scroll from a set of three portrays the tale of the killing of Shuten Doji, a giant who lived in a mountain fortress and periodically kidnapped and devoured young noblewomen from Kyoto. Set in the tenth century, the story celebrates the exploits of the warrior known as Raiko. With his band of warriors disguised as Buddhist monks, Raiko locates and enters Shuten Doji’s fortress. There they kill the giant after he falls asleep from drinking a wine potion.

  This lively tale was often reproduced in paintings and in woodblock-printed books. Painted on silk rather than the usual paper, this set of scrolls is a particularly luxurious example of a work by a professional artist of the Kano school. The participation of an imperial prince and high-ranking imperial courtiers as calligraphers indicates that the commission for this scroll must have come from a person of high rank. These handscrolls enhance the museum’s holdings of Japanese narrative paintings of the Edo period (1615-1868) and complement other paintings of the same story in folding screen and fan formats.

  (see also F1998.26.1 and F1998.26.2)

• Provenance

  To 1998

  Deborah and David Chodoff, Katonah, NY, by descent, to 1998 [1]

  From 1998

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Deborah and David Chodoff in 1998

  Notes:

  [1] The object came from the estate of the owner's mother, who had owned them since acquiring them in Japan during her residence there in the 1960s (see Curatorial Note 2, Ann Yonemura, March 4, 1998, in the object record).

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Tale of Shuten Doji (March 21 to September 20, 2009)

  Honoring Friends: Recent Gifts by Members of the Freer and Sackler Galleries (June 10 to November 25, 2001)

  Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Deborah and David Chodoff

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — funds provided by the Friends of Asian Arts

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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• Name

  Chodoff, Deborah and David

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Tale of Shuten Doji, Art, Shuten Doji, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings