Antique sculptural composition. Represents the seven gods of happiness traveling on a musical instrument pipa, representing the ship on which they arrived in Japan from China and brought gifts with them. Marking: Kutani workshops. Japan, 20th century.

Seven gods of happiness:

Ebisu - the god of fishermen, sailors, farmers, merchants. Daikoku - the keeper of the kitchen, the patron of the hearth, peasants, brings prosperity and wealth to the house. Bishamon - Bishamon-ten (Tamonten) in the distant past was the hero of the Indian epic "Mahabharata". Benzaiten is the only goddess among the seven. Like other Indian gods, she came into the Japanese religion along with Buddhism. In India, she was revered as the goddess of the rivers Sarasvati. Fukurokuju - this deity came to Shintoism from Chinese Taoism. His name combines three hieroglyphs: happiness, longevity and professional well-being. Hotei - Hotei-osho, or laughing Buddha, is the most famous of all Shichifukujin in Russia. Jurojin - he is associated with the Chinese deity of longevity Shou-sin.