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A Tiger in the Marketplace (Shichû ni tora ari)

A Tiger in the Marketplace (Shichû ni tora ari)

(Japanese, 1764?–1820)
about 1804–18 (Bunka era)
Medium/TechniqueWoodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
DimensionsKokonotsugiri; 14.3 x 19 cm (5 5/8 x 7 1/2 in.)
Credit LineWilliam Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession number11.16815
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPrints
Description
The title refers to an ancient Chinese proverb meaning something that is believed only because many people say it is so. Here there really is a tiger, but it is actually a statue used to draw the attention of customers to a shop. The poems allude to the kabuki play Uirō-uri (The Medicine Peddler), whose lead character, a seller of an herbal remedy called uirō, was part of the Toraya (“tiger shop”) family. The second poem compares the medicine with the traditional New Year’s eating of seven different types of herbs.
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.