Ema, the Japanese term for such votive plaques, literally means "horse picture," because they were used from the eleventh century onward as gifts meant to substitute for the actual horses traditionally offered to Shinto shrines. The practice of giving ema to shrines and then temples became popular throughout Japan, and eventually artists introduced subjects other than horses. The plaques were usually hung under the eaves of the shrine or temple buildings, so that few ema from the early periods have survived the wear of time and the elements. This example is from a complete set of thirty-six votive plaques of poets, most likely commissioned for a shrine or temple by a wealthy donor, that is a rare example of its type.

Poetry and poets have been highly revered in Japan for over a thousand years. The works of famous poets were collected in imperially commissioned anthologies as early as the tenth century. By the twelfth century, imaginary portraits of the poets, made by and for the aristocracy, were painted on paper or silk. The most popular of these paintings depicted a group known as the Thirty-six Immortal Poets (Sanjūrokkasen), who were selected from among favorite poets of the past. The practice of portraying these illustrious individuals on ema dates to the thirteenth century. The best-known example still surviving in Japan is installed in a small building called Shisendō (Hall of Poets) in Kyoto and dates to the 1640s.

The Museum's set is painted on cryptomeria wood, and the reverses of the plaques are inscribed with the date Genroku 11 (1698). Each poet's portrait is accompanied by one of his (or her) verses brushed in calligraphy, which is sometimes quite faded, with only traces of the original thirty-one-syllable poems remaining. Felice Fischer, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gifts in Honor of the 125th Anniversary (2002), p. 19.