The Treasure Ship

The Treasure Ship, circa 1778, is a vertical oban diptych color woodblock print at the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the more ambitious large compositions in Shigemasa's surviving oeuvre. The takarabune (treasure ship) - a vessel carrying the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichi-fukujin) and laden with auspicious treasures - is a fixture of Japanese New Year iconography. Pictures of the treasure ship placed under the pillow on New Year's Eve were believed to ensure auspicious first dreams (hatsuyume) for the coming year, and the imagery was reproduced in countless prints, paintings, and ephemera. Shigemasa's vertical diptych format - two oban sheets joined to make a tall composition - allowed him to develop the boat and its cargo of gods and treasures at scale and detail unavailable in single-sheet prints. The c. 1778 date places the work at the height of his career, immediately following the great Seiro Bijin album. The Art Institute of Chicago's impression is an excellent example of his ambitious late-1770s large-format work and demonstrates his range beyond bijin-ga into auspicious and devotional subjects.