Creative Commons License
Kuwana: The Story of the Sailor Tokuzō
(Japan and Korea )
The Sea Monk (Umi Bozu) is a sea monster with a smooth round head, like the shaven head of a Buddhist monk. This woodblock print illustrates the story of the sailor Kawanaya Tokuzo, who decides to go to sea on the last day of the year, which other sailors consider unlucky. A violent storm breaks out, and the Umi Bozu appears. In a ghastly voice the apparition demands, "Name the most horrible thing you know!" Tokuzo yells back, "My profession is the most horrible thing I know!" The monster is apparently satisfied with this answer and disappears along with the storm.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
C. Robert Snell, Oriental Arts & Antiques, Timonium, Maryland; purchased by Justine Lewis Keidel, Owings Mills, Maryland, after 1971; given to Walters Art Museum, 1991.
Exhibitions
| 2018-2019 | Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Art of Collaboration. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 2011 | Setting Sail: Drawings of the Sea from WAM. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Japan (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 14 1/4 x W: 9 3/4 in. (36.2 x 24.77 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Justine Lewis Keidel, 1991
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
95.585