Shibata Zeshin 柴田是真 (1807–1891) URUSHI-E (LACQUER PAINTING) OF FUKUROKUJU, GOD OF GOOD FORTUNE AND LONGEVITY 福禄寿図額装漆絵Meiji era (1868–1912), circa 1870–1890Lacquer on paper, mounted as an album leaf and framed, depicting Fukurokuju holding a rustic bamboo staff from which hangs a rolled-up scroll, two minogame (hairy-tailed tortoises symbolizing longevity) at its base, in the background a bamboo forest in mist; signed Zeshin 是真 with seal Koma 古満Overall: 40.4cm × 37.4cm (15⅞in × 14¾in) Image: 19.7cm × 16.8cm (7¾in × 6⅝in)With cloth-bound storage box (2)Provenance:Sold in these Rooms, 5 November 2014, lot 10Exhibited and Published:Nezu Bijutsukan (Nezu Museum) 2012, cat. no. 118注脚In her catalogue entry for the Nezu Museum exhibition held in 2012, Tahira Namiko notes that Zeshin, who produced many figure paintings using conventional ink and paper and loved to depict the popular deities of Edo/Tokyo (his native city), rarely painted figures in urushi-e. Here the lacquer painting is embellished with an overlay of light colour, the bamboo grove is bathed in a mist of gold dust, and the scroll hanging from Fukurokuju's staff is flecked with fragments of shell. Although now framed, this lively painting most likely started life as an album leaf.