Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting
height 137 mm × width 185 mm
Yanagawa Shinegobu
Monkey Pushing over a Lacquered Tray
Japan, 1812
Inscriptions
-
stamped: lower right, in black ink, with mark of Catherine Ball
Provenance
…; collection Catherine Ball (collector's mark);…; purchased from the dealer Hotei Japanese Prints, Leiden, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1986;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-631
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
While most surimono were commissioned by poets for distribution among their friends, in this instance it is the designer, Shigenobu, who participated in the custom. This print and RP-P-1958-548 by Gakutei are examples of designers distributing their own prints.
In addition to the print catalogued here, a similar example dating from 1819 is known, featuring the popular hero Kintaro holding a hare by its ears with one hand, the numerals for the short months indicated on a fan in his other hand. It also features an unsigned poem, apparently by Shigenobu himself.2
The artist
Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787?–1833) was Katsushika Hokusai's pupil and son-in-law. He used the art-names Yanagawa and Reisai. In the 1820s, he moved to Osaka, where he continued designing prints.
Entry
A monkey pushes over a lacquered serving tray on a high foot, takatsuki, the sweets that had been laid out on it falling to the floor.
Apparently, this surimono was issued by the designer who also provided the poem, thus being a variant on the practise of poets acting as amateur designers. The numerals for the short months of the New Monkey Year 1812, 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12, appear in gold on the foot of the serving tray.
One anonymous haiku poem, apparently by Yanagawa Shigenobu, the designer of the print.
Issued by the designer
Signature reading: Yanagawa hitsu
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 174
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Yanagawa Shinegobu, Monkey Pushing over a Lacquered Tray, Japan, 1812', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.422481
(accessed 15 November 2024 04:19:20).