Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
About the Artwork
Even before the arrival of US ships demanding trade, Japan’s military government was experiencing economic challenges. This preparatory drawing is for a wooden plaque to be offered to a shrine, beseeching divine intervention in business affairs. Commissioned by a wholesalers’ union, it shows the demon Ibaraki-dōji reclaiming his arm from a warrior who, according to legend, had cut it off. The repossession of the arm is a metaphor for the union’s desire for the restoration of rights to sell sugar, which had been rescinded by the government as part of a misguided effort to stabilize the economy.
Exhibition history
Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991). Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001). Modern Japan. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 14, 2022-June 18, 2023).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)
- Date
- c. 1840
- Medium
- hanging scroll, ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Overall: 214.6 x 195.5 cm (84 1/2 x 76 15/16 in.); Mounted: 205.2 x 185.2 cm (80 13/16 x 72 15/16 in.); Painting only: 161 x 172.2 cm (63 3/8 x 67 13/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Accession no.
- 1990.6
More by Shibata Zeshin in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009598
Powered by Art Trackers