Oiwa (The Lantern Ghost)

Gekko, artist

active late 1700s to early 1800s

Oiwa (The Lantern Ghost), early 1800s, Edo period (1600–1868)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: ink; silk; color

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 65.4 x 29.2 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 25 3/4 x 11 1/2 in
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 61 x 15 3/4 in
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 155 x 40 cm

Credit line: Museum purchase: R. Charles and Mary Margaret Clevenger Art Acquisition Fund

Accession number: 2010.0025

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Nature/Natural," Feb-2011, Kris Ercums
In this hanging scroll, lantern ghost Oiwa appears formless, engulfed in the dark background and surrounded by long scraggly hair. Her story appears in a preeminent Kabuki ghost play, Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan (The Tōkaidō Yotsuya Ghost Stories), written by Tsuruya Nanboku IV (1755-1829). In the story, betrayed and poisoned by her husband Iyemon, Oiwa turns into a vengeful ghost and haunts her husband relentlessly. Wherever he goes and whatever he does, Oiwa’s disfigured face appears before him. The name of lantern ghost was probably informed by Botan dōrō (Peony Lantern, 1666), a fiction, which was adapted from a Chinese story Mudan dengji (Tales of Peony Lantern) and influenced the development of Japanese ghost tales. When the story of Oiwa was first performed in 1825, lanterns were already a motif associated with ghost stories. This motif was creatively employed by Kabuki actors, who played Oiwa emerging from a burning lantern. This performance became very popular and was staged throughout the 19th century. The peony lantern depicted in this painting would illuminate Oiwa’s haunting countenance on a darkened stage.