Crawler Hermit

" Crawler Hermit "

Oshun is a grandchild of the great painter Maruyama Okyo.
Oshun is also the second son of Maruyama Ozui.
Oshun lived in Kyoto.
He deceased in 1838 at the age of 43.

This is rather large scroll.
There are some spots and folds on the painting part.
Several small tears at the top part of the mounting are recognized, however, those are not so noticeable.
As a whole, the condition of this scroll is not bad.
The motif is Koh Shohei, pastoral hermit in an old tale.
When Shohei ,a shepherd boy, was 15 years old, a mountain hermit found his possibilities and took him to Mt. Kinka.
40 years later, his brother finally found Shohei in the mountain.
The brother asked him what job of livelihood he was doing.
Shohei answered "Crawler".
The brother could not see any sheep around there, so he asked Shohei " Where are sheep ? ".
Shohei switched a crook, then, all stones around Shohei turned sheep.
Please note that this scroll is not authenticated by any appraiser.