Hokusai Mystical Bird T-Shirt Cushion

Mystical Bird (Karyōbinga) Katsushika Hokusai Japanese 1820–33 This surimono New Year's card depicts a mystical Buddhist bird (karyōbinga in Japanese; kalavinca in Sanskrit) chraacterised by a bird's body and a human head. It is said that one can never tire of listening to the creature's heavenly music. The New Year's poems were inscribed by Nikyō and Kokusui. Hokusai's signature reads Hokusai aratame Iitsu ("Hokusai changed to Iitsu"). The work is from the artist's very productive Iitsu period (ca. 1820–33). Title: Mystical Bird (Karyōbinga) Artist: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760–1849 Tokyo (Edo)) Period: Edo period (1615–1868) Date: 1820–33 Culture: Japan Medium: Woodblock print (surimono); ink and colour on paper