Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments
height 116 mm × width 185 mm
Katsushika Hôtei Hokuga
Two Books
Japan, 1810
Provenance
…; purchased from the dealer C.P.J. van der Peet Japanese Prints, Amsterdam, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1984;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-550
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
The artist
Katsushika Hotei Hokuga (d. 1856) was a follower of Katsushika Hokusai, who also used the names Hotei, Mantei and Manjiro. There is an unconfirmed - or at least insufficiently developed - theory that he is identical to Hotei Gosei.
Entry
A still life of two books, one closed to reveal the title Tales of Ise, Ise monogatari, the other showing a man carrying a lady on his back through pampas grass.
The title of the Ise monogatari, formerly attributed to the courtier and poet Ariwara no Narihira (825-80), is written on the print in such a way that the characters also indicate the long months for 1810, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12.
The scene illustrated in the open book is from Section XII and concerns an eloping couple who hide in the Musashi Plains when their absence is discovered. The girl recited the following poem as their persecutors prepared to set the plain ablaze:
Do not set fire to the Musashi Plains today - my beloved husband is hiding here, and so am I.
A long text by —ryukyo shujin, with a written seal, kakihan.
Issued by the poet
Signature reading: Hotei Hokuga ga
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 139
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Katsushika Hôtei Hokuga, Two Books, Japan, 1810', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.422456
(accessed 23 November 2024 12:34:50).