Daikoku and Ebisu Pounding Mochi at New Year

Held by the MFA Boston, this auspicious New Year design (Daikoku to Ebisu mochi-tsuki no zu) depicts two of the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichifukujin) — Daikoku, the god of wealth and the household kitchen, and Ebisu, the god of fishermen and commerce — engaged in the seasonal ritual of mochi-tsuki, the pounding of glutinous rice into the celebratory cakes eaten at New Year. The Seven Gods of Good Fortune were a perennial subject of Japanese popular religion and a staple of ukiyo-e ekisaibutsu (auspicious printing), particularly around the New Year market when prints of lucky figures sold as treasure-ship (takarabune) decorations or simply as cheerful seasonal gifts. Shūchō handles the subject with humor: the two gods stand at the wooden mortar and pestle, sleeves rolled up, their characteristic plump bellies and good-natured expressions intact, transforming a divine subject into a domestic vignette. The print belongs to the broader strand of Shūchō's output that engages popular and seasonal themes outside the courtesan genre. Catalogued at sc217112.