Jujaka's wife is ridiculed; she then urges her husband to ask Vessantara for his children, a scene from the next-to-last life of the Buddha (Vessantara Jataka)
Matted: H. 28 in × W. 22 1/16 in (71.1 cm × 56 cm)
Complete sets of the standard thirteen paintings for the recitation of the story of Prince Vessantara are extremely rare. Once a set of paintings was used in a recitation it might not have been used again, and no particular provision may have been made to preserve it. The number of single paintings or small groups of paintings surviving from sets suggests that sets were often broken up and dispersed.
This set [2006.27.80.1-.13] probably about 120 years old, remains in fair condition. Most details of the paintings, though scratched and abraded, can still be made out, but the inscriptions along the bottom edges have suffered considerable damage and are now only partly legible.
Just as the recitation of the "Great Life" was sometimes accompanied by sound effects and naughty side-stories, in this set of paintings the artist enlivens the main story with bawdy vignettes, monkeyshines, and amusing anachronisms. The artist's interest in some aspects of classical Western landscape painting is also apparent.
[2006.27.80.5] Chapter 5
Meanwhile, an elderly brahman named Jujaka has married a young wife, who is ridiculed by the other women for being so obedient to her husband. She wants the opportunity to lord it over her tormentors and, having heard of Prince Vessantara's unequaled generosity, sends her husband to ask of the prince that he give up his own children so Jujaka could bring them back to her as servants.
Here, Jujaka's wife, standing in the middle of the composition holding a large jar, is mocked as she goes for water.
