Hokusai's genre scenes, bijin-ga (beautiful women), and miscellaneous subjects represent the breadth of his career across more than seven decades. The market for non-landscape Hokusai prints has strengthened as collectors seek beyond the most famous designs.
A religious or ritual figure makes an offering of water using ceremonial pails in this [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e) (brocade print) from around 1790, the act of water offering being a purification rite performed at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. The careful rendering of the pails' wooden construction and the formality of the figure's posture convey the solemnity of a devotional act embedded within everyday religious practice.
1821
Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban
1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
c. 1832
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Offering Pails of Water was created by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) in c. 1790.
Offering Pails of Water depicts figures, temples & shrines, and religious.
Offering Pails of Water measures 21.1 × 15.3 cm (Oban format).
