Kozuka with the Dôjôji Temple Bell

This design is a scene from the story of Dôjôji temple. The temple bell is shown at the center of the composition. At the right are two monks holding prayer beads and praying. A woman dances at the left, holding a mallet for striking the bell. The monks at Dôjôji used the bell to hide a traveling monk who was trying to escape a woman who was pursuing him. She thought he had promised to marry her and, in her anger at his rejection of her, transformed herself into a dragon. She coiled herself around the bell and killed the hidden monk by breathing fire on the bell. In the noh and kabuki plays about the story, a dancer, who is the spirit of the jealous woman, comes to the temple to celebrate the installation of a new bell. She dances under the bell and when it falls on her she is transformed into a dragon. The dancer is shown here as a fox. Foxes were commonly thought to take the form of a beautiful woman in order to cause mischief.

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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.

Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.