Viewing votive paintings

Date:: c. 1800
Medium:: Color woodblock print; nagaban, surimono
Format:: Nagaban
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

Worshippers approach or examine ema — votive paintings on wooden plaques offered at shrines and temples to petition for divine favor — in this nagaban surimono from around 1800. The ritual of viewing and leaving ema was a form of devotional participation accessible to all Edo residents regardless of education, the painted horses, ships, and human figures condensing prayers into portable visual form.