Mirror With the Design of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Harukawa Goshichi Japanese

Edo period (1615–1868)

Not on view

The kyōka ("mad poem") by Tsurunoya reads:

Kumori naki I shōma no Kagami I
kage susa wa I Dakki no shaku no
I kyūbi saki kamo

Referring to the legend of the manipulative and provoking Dafei, favorite concubine of King Zhou of the Shang dynasty, this poem asks: May not the tips of nine tails reflected in an unspotted mirror be the Nine-Tailed Fox?

Surimono were privately commissioned prints for special occasions, such as New Year's. Both an unstained mirror and this magical animal are auspicious New Year's omens.

Mirror With the Design of a Nine-Tailed Fox, Harukawa Goshichi (Japanese, 1776–1831), Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper, Japan

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.