Kozuka with the Oil Monk

Description This kozuka illustrates the Oil Monk, who appears in a story about the 11th-century warrior Taira no Tadamori. There were reports of a fire breathing dragon walking the streets of Kyoto one rainy night. When Tadamori set out to find and kill the dragon, he discovered it was only a monk carrying an oil lamp. When the monk blew on the lamp to keep it lit, he appeared to be breathing fire. The monk shelters himself from the rain under an umbrella.

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

Inscriptions [Signature] 宝壽斎弘親; [Translation] Hôjusai Hirochika

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters