Scented Pillow, Pickled Eggplant Box and Takarabune Print/The Pillow Shell (Makuragai), from the series Shell-Matching Game with Genroku Poets (Genroku kasen kai-awase) Possibly 1821

Curator: Hokusai's "Scented Pillow, Pickled Eggplant Box and Takarabune Print/The Pillow Shell" presents a fascinating tableau of objects. The Genroku era was a time of relative peace and prosperity in Japan. What do you see in this arrangement of objects and text? Editor: It feels like a still life, but the objects, like the pillow and the box, seem to be symbols of something beyond their literal form. It has an air of domesticity, but also hints at cultural rituals. Curator: Precisely. Consider how the "shell-matching game" suggests a playful engagement with classical literature and aristocratic pastimes. How might this relate to Genroku-era society? Editor: Maybe it speaks to a longing for a romanticized past, even as the merchant class gained power? Curator: Exactly. And the "takarabune print," a treasure ship, hints at prosperity, but what kind of prosperity, and for whom? These objects invite us to reflect on the shifting social dynamics of the time. Editor: I see how Hokusai uses these objects to comment on society. Thanks! Curator: It's about understanding art as a conversation between past and present, power and representation.