Hotei, flanked by panels of birds

Kenkō Shōkei

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A large, vertical scroll painting depicts a smiling, obese man with a large belly sitting cross-legged on the ground. He has a bald head with a small tuft of hair. The man wears a loincloth and a long, flowing robe. He holds a staff with a pennant in his right hand and an object wrapped in cloth in his left hand. The man's head is turned to the right. A gold border surrounds the painting, featuring a pattern of interlocking floral motifs. Two panels, one on each side of the main image, contain black and white drawings of birds.