The gods of fortune Ebisu and Daikoku

Date:: 1797
Medium:: Color woodblock print; surimono, egoyomi
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Later reprint or reproduction (20th-century): $50–$300
Good later impression (Edo-period): $1,000–$5,000
Good early impression (vivid color, legible detail): $5,000–$20,000
Fine early impression (exceptional color and condition): $20,000–$60,000

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.

Description

Ebisu, the smiling god of fishermen and commerce, and Daikoku, the rotund deity of wealth and agriculture, appear together as a pair of the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichifukujin) in this [surimono](/glossary/surimono) from 1797. Issued as an [egoyomi](/glossary/egoyomi) — a pictorial calendar whose month-day sequence is embedded within the image — the print served both as a New Year's gift and a witty visual puzzle for the initiated.