Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting
height 204 mm × width 186 mm
Yashima Gakutei
Geisha and Peacock on Plum Tree
Japan, Japan, 1868 - 1912
Provenance
…; collection J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-498
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
Each of the prints in this series of ten designs - all of which are known - combines two images within differently shaped cartouches. On some, the two images appear to be connected, while the combinations on others seem quite illogical, making it difficult to establish the idea behind this series. They all have the poetry on a narrow poetry-slip, tanzaku, to the right, decorated with the emblem of the Honchoren.
For others of the series, see:
Court couple writing verse2
Entrance to Yoshiwara/Courtesan with junior apprentice3
Pine tree and rising sun/Female Immortal riding a dragon4
Plum tree/Dreaming woman5
Two samurai by a lantern/Parading courtesans6.
The artist
Yashima Gakutei (1786?-1868), a pupil of Totoya Hokkei, was also strongly influenced by Katsushika Hokusai. He used the art-names Harunobu, Sadaoka and Yashima. In addition to his designs for surimono and kyoka collections - he was probably the most prolific designer in this genre – he was also a poet and writer as well as a great Sinologist.
Entry
A circular cartouche with the bust portrait of a geisha holding an open fan on a ground of repeated blossoms. A fan-shaped cartouche with a peacock on the stem of a plum tree below.
The emblem on the geisha's fan, which is also repeated in the cartouche in which the poem is inscribed, is probably the poet's personal emblem, shaped as the stylised character ‘Nao’ for Naonari. The other emblem is that of the Honchoren.
Print from A Series of Ten Prints for the Honchoren, Honchoren Jubantsuzuki.
One poem by Asanoya Naonari [probably identical to Takenoya Naonari, a judge of the Honchoren].7
In the poem, the peacock's tail is likened to the rays of the sun:
The peacock has appeared - the playful sun of early Spring turns its long tail to gold.
The poet Naonari was apparently wealthy enough to always appear alone on surimono .
Meiji-period (1868-1912) facsimile after the original print published in c. 1822.
Issued anonymously
Signature reading: Gakutei, with seal: Sadaoka
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 419
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Yashima Gakutei, Geisha and Peacock on Plum Tree, Japan, 1868 - 1912', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.446680
(accessed 20 September 2024 19:43:21).