Toad

Currently not on view

Toad

Late 18th century

Matsumoto Hoji (Japanese, active c. 1785)

This portly toad, bursting beyond the confines of the scroll's edges, belongs to a category of Japanese painting known as Zenga, or "Zen picture." For Zen monks, painting provided a medium to express their own Zen experience and pleasure. The inscription is by Jiun, one of the foremost Buddhist clerics of the time. It can be translated as, "In heaven and among human beings, get back [to the original state]," a Zen admonition to adherents to free themselves from the distraction and ties of the mundane world and to live as purely and naturally as the toad does.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Toad

Date:

Late 18th century

Artist:

Matsumoto Hoji (Japanese, active c. 1785)

Medium:

Ink on paper; mounted as a hanging scroll

Dimensions:

45 1/2 × 10 1/8 inches (115.6 × 25.7 cm) Mount: 6 feet 8 1/2 inches × 14 1/2 inches (204.5 × 36.8 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Purchased with the Henry B. Keep Fund and the Edward and Althea Budd Fund, 2001

Accession Number:

2001-182-1

Geography:

Made in Japan, Asia

Context:

Period: Edo Period (1615-1868)

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Currently not on view