Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments
height 137 mm × width 175 mm
Katsushika Hokusai
Poet Reading a Poem
Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan, Japan, c. 1797
Provenance
…; purchased from the dealer Johannes Marcus (Kunsthandel Magdalena Sothmann), Amsterdam, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1982;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-451
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
Several of the poets represented on this surimono, including Shitami from Mutsu Province, also appear on one of the designs for the series A Matching Game with the Genroku Poem Shells, Genroku kasen kaiawase, of 1821, see RP-P-1958-272. Shitami had apparently risen to considerable rank by 1810, when he contributed to a surimono designed by Shinsai: in a group of twelve, he takes tenth place, just ahead of Monoyana and Magao.2
Shitami is also known as the poetry selector for the album Old Men of Great Fame, Natori no okina, which he published himself in Koori in 1798.3 His poems also appear on RP-P-1958-272 (1821), and, as late as the 1830s, on a design by Sonsai Koichi.4
The artist
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) first studied with Katsukawa Shunsho but later developed his own style. He was occasionally influenced by various other traditions, and designed thousands of calendar prints and surimono from 1787 until about 1810. His surimono production diminished in the 1810s but he resumed his former output between 1321 and 1825. He is best known for his landscape prints of the 1830s.
Entry
A poet in formal dress, kamishimo, sitting at a writing-table reading the poem written on the poetry-slip, tanzaku, he is holding.
The poet in the design can be identified from the crest on his clothing as Josuirei Shitami, and from the character Jo, which forms part of a stylised fan.
The signature on this copy has been trimmed off - the copy in the Chester Beatty Library5 is signed 'Sori ga'. Keyes attributes the print to Sori III (earlier Soji) based on 'the restraint of the design, the poet's small face and the number of poems'. This might be correct if, indeed, the poet Yomo Utagaki Magao signed his poems either as Yomo Magao or as Yomo Utagaki in the 1790s, only using his full name Yomo Utagaki Magao from the early 1800s. On the other hand, Kano states that Shitami was appointed as a judge of the Yomogawa in the Kansei period (1789-1801).6
If so, Hokusai is the more likely designer. Moreover, considering the involvement of famous poets such as Monoyana and Magao, it is more probable that Hokusai would have been chosen over his admittedly talented pupil Sori III.
Five poems by Josuitei Shitami, from Koori in Oshu, i.e., Mutsu Province;7 Soshuro [better known as Zeniya] Kinrachi [I, 1750s-1808, a judge of the Yomogawa];8 Goyuken Komendo [or Yonehito, later also known as Kyokabo Komendo or Yonehito later also known as Kyokabo Komendo or Sakazuki, a judge of the Yomogawa];9 Shuchodo Monoyana [b. 1761, one of the heads of the Yomogawa];10 and Yomo no Utagaki Magao [1753-1829, Shikatsube Magao, pupil of Yomo Akara. Used the name 'Yomo' from 1796, when he became a judge of the Yomogawa. Alternative name Kyokado],11 all from the Eastern Capital, Toto, i.e., Edo.
The poem by Shitami is not convincing proof of his ability - unless it refers to something only understood by the others. It reads:
Though my name is not included among the Seven Herbs of Spring, still I rejoice at the news that the Eastern Capital has 'picked' me.
The poem by Monoyana plays on elements in the poet's name, the 'high', Jo (suitei) and 'low', Shita (mi) being complementary; at the same time, this combination of characters can be read as kamishimo, the ceremonial garb Shitami wears on this festive occasion:
Just as plums and willows always match in poems, the kamishimo suits you well.
Issued by followers of the poet Yomo Magao
Signature reading: Sori ga (trimmed off on this copy)
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 88
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Katsushika Hokusai, Poet Reading a Poem, Japan, c. 1797', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.360421
(accessed 15 November 2024 11:42:10).