Title: Daietsu

Description

Daietsu is a story with a happy ending, in which an affectionate and dutiful son, Daietsu-no-suke, becomes a rich man blessed with many descendants by the grace of Kiyomizu Kannon (the goddess of mercy) and Daikokuten and Ebisu (the gods of wealth). The story dates from the 16th century, but this pair of picture scrolls appears to have been painted in the 18th century by Sumiyoshi Hiromori (1705–77), an artist of the Sumiyoshi school. The scrolls are gorgeously colored and richly adorned with gold leaf on a traditional high-quality eggshell-colored glossy paper. The paper was first decorated with gold paint (a mixture of gold powder and liquid glue made into a painting material) in a design of flowers before the application of the script.