Sketch of Ibaraki-dōji (c. 1840): Art, History and Details

Sketch of Ibaraki-dōji (c. 1840) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Even before the arrival of US ships demanding trade, Japan’s military government was experiencing economic challenges. This preparatory drawing is for a wooden plaque to be offered to a shrine, beseeching divine intervention in business affairs. Commissioned by a wholesalers’ union, it shows the demon Ibaraki-dōji reclaiming his arm from a warrior who, according to legend, had cut it off. The repossession of the arm is a metaphor for the union’s desire for the restoration of rights to sell sugar, which had been rescinded by the government as part of a misguided effort to stabilize the economy.

Object facts

• Title: Sketch of Ibaraki-dōji
• Date: c. 1840
• Creator attribution: Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll, ink on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 214.6 x 195.5 cm (84 1/2 x 76 15/16 in.); Mounted: 205.2 x 185.2 cm (80 13/16 x 72 15/16 in.); Painting only: 161 x 172.2 cm (63 3/8 x 67 13/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1990.6

A detail from the museum

The demon Ibaraki, having disguised itself as the aunt of warrior Minamoto no Yorimitsu to gain access to its severed limb, is shown is in the midst of transforming back into demon form.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cunningham, Michael R. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147.
• Cunningham, Michael R. Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001.
• Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.