Skip to main content
Advanced Search
White Elephant Figurine on a Cushion

White Elephant Figurine on a Cushion

(Japanese, 1757–1820)
1805 (Bunka 2)
Medium/TechniqueWoodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
DimensionsKokonotsugiri; 13.9 x 18.6 cm (5 1/2 x 7 5/16 in.)
Credit LineWilliam Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession number11.16795
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPrints
Description
An elephant is cleverly substituted for a nade ushi (“stroking ox”), a figurine that was supposed to grant wishes when petted. The first accompanying poem further emphasizes this connection between ox and elephant, likening a black ox covered in snow to a white-skinned elephant. Embossing gives shape and form to the elephant, enhancing its whiteness. The allusions to oxen indicate that this print was produced for the Year of the Ox in the Sino-Japanese zodiac calendar.
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.