A curious parade of Edo whimsey as Animals, Gods and Historical Figures are creating all types of mayhem on this makimono hand scroll from dating from the Edo period. It is ink and color on paper, likely mounted in its current form at the turn of the 19th century. In the beginning we have various animals (monkey, bat, mouse, grasshopper, tiger etc making merry as if in New Years celebration followed by Daikoku, one of the seven lucky gods, dropping his rice bails and lucky hammer to draw swords with a frightful looking Tengu, representative of war and patron deity of samurai. After this a lobster rows a bucket in which stands Jurojin, another of the lucky gods, with his fishing rod catching a dragon from the depths. Kannon, Goddess of mercy, draws a bead with a matchlock on a target with an owl to call the shots. Fugen Bosatsu of buddhist lore rides atop his elephant, a torch held in its trunk and several cormorants fishing for him. Frogs dance to courtly music among the grasses, followed last by a group of various gods and historical figures enjoying a feast. Likely written as practice, the application of colors largely runs out midway through the painting.
The scroll is 26 x 478 cm (10-1/2 x 188 inches or 15-1/2 feet long). At the end is written Tosa Mitsunobu Ga, Chikanobu Utsushi (meaning the original work was by Tosa Mitsunobu, copied later by Chikanobu). This does not give the last name of Chikanobu, but possibly indicates Kano Chikanobu, (1660-1728) a painter of the Kano school in the mid-Edo period. He was the eldest son of Kano Tsunenobu. He became the third head of the Kobikicho Kano school and served as official painter for the Tokugawa shogunate.
