A Shinto Ema or Votive Plaque: Eyes

early to mid twentieth century
image size: 6 3/4" x 6", 17 cm x 15.25 cm
overall size: 8" x 8 3/4", 20.25 cm x 22 cm

This is an ema.  An ema is a votive tablet offered by an individual to a Shinto temple either in petition for a favor or in thanks for a favor received.  Some ema can be very large and hand painted.  They can depict battle scenes, sailing ships or other elaborate images.  

Ko ema, such as this one, are small votives which are to be bought by visitors to a shrine. Anyone who has been to a Shinto shrine in Japan has seen racks outside the shrine which are crowded with hundreds of ema-- however the new ema are not hand painted as this one is.

It was said that there were itinerant makers of ema that would position themselves outside shrines, hand painting them and selling them to the visitors of the shrine. If true, this was likely done in collaboration with the shrine as ema are a source of revenue.

The image on this ko ema is extremely desirable. It should four pairs of eyes with are situated under a painted bunting with four hiragana syllables "me" which means eye in English. Clearly this ema was offered by someone with a malady of the eyes and was hoping to receive some spiritual healing from the powers imbued by the Shinto shrine.

Note the clear split to the wood, a dramatic effect. This ema was included in the 2013 exhibition "Ema: Votive Plaques from Japan" at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin.

A delightful object with a highly collectible--almost surreal--image, this is certainly a ko ema to consider owning.

Very recommended.