A Kyoto potter with close ties to the literati in his city and a similar taste for Chinese styles, Hozen was known for his highly colored wares and for his use of gold. A different side of his urbanity comes through in this rather personal painting, perhaps tempered by the business failures he experienced in his later years. A few economic brush strokes create the figure of a fox-priest, the protagonist in the comic kyōgen play The Fox Trapper (Kirigitsune). The enigmatic poem cautions:Beware of those who have renounced the worldalthough they wear the robes of priestsat heart they are foxes still.