Wave Crest and the Moon (Translation)
浪花白兔 竹內栖鳳 絹本著色 二重箱 (Primary Title)

Takeuchi Seihō 竹內栖鳳, Japanese, 1864 - 1942 (Artist)

late 1910s
Japanese
Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk
Image: 56 1/2 x 16.69 in. (143.5 x 42.4 cm), Overall: 89 x 22 in. (226 x 56 cm)
2022.3

Kyoto-based Takeuchi Seihō depicts a close-up view of a seascape and moon, referencing the White Rabbit of Inaba myth recorded in an 8th-century Japanese chronicle. Although not shown in this painting, the myth tells of a white rabbit (hakuto) from the ancient province of Inaba that was trapped on an island. To free himself, the rabbit deceived sharks into lining up as a bridge for him to walk across to the shore. The moment before he landed, a shark ripped off the rabbit’s skin. With the help of a Shinto deity, the rabbit was healed and became a Shinto deity himself, enshrined in the Hakuto Shrine on the shore, 140 miles north of Kyoto.


Nihonga 日本画
Taisho period (1912-1926)
栖鳳 Seiho
Artist's seal: 竹内恒印 Takeuchi Koh in
Inner box, inscription in ink: 浪花白兔 栖鳳題 (Wave Crest and White Rabbit, inscribed by Seiho), with the artist's seal 高幹.
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment and Gift of the Estate of Senator Hugh Scott, by exchange

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