Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting
height 134 mm × width 200 mm
Uematsu Tôshû
A Courtier Preparing to Write a Poem
Japan, Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805
Inscriptions
-
stamped: lower left, in red ink, with seal of Hayashi Tadamasa
Provenance
…; the dealer or collection Hayashi Tadamasa (1853-1906) (L. 2971);…; purchased from the dealer Kunsthandel Huys den Esch, Dodewaard, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1990;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-675
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
The poet Naritake is represented on various surimono in the collection, most of them designed by Gakutei in the 1820s (e.g., RP-P-1958-453). However, he also worked with Shinsai, see, for example, a print dated 1818 that he commissioned himself.2 In 1822, he published the kyoka collection Sokan kyoka awase (untranslatable), illustrated by Gakutei.3
Entry
A courtier dressed in formal clothing decorated with floral patterns and wearing a court-cap, eboshi, sitting at a low writing-table, holding a poetry-slip, tanzaku. More poetry-slips on the table. Behind him a seated court-lady holding an open fan. A pot of brushes and two ink-stones for making ink, sumi, by the table.
The two figures are dressed in the classical court attire commonly associated with the Heian period (794-1185).
One poem by Harunoya Naritake [also Asane Naritake, a judge of the Honchoren].4 The poem alludes to the First Writing of the New Year, kakizome.
Issued by the poet
Signature reading: Agematsu Toshu hitsu
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 188
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Uematsu Tôshû, A Courtier Preparing to Write a Poem, Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.422475
(accessed 4 January 2025 03:53:59).