Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting
height 141 mm × width 187 mm
Ryûryûkyo Shinsai
Sheets of Poetry
Japan, Japan, Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805
Inscriptions
-
stamped on verso with unidentified collector`s mark
Provenance
…; purchased from the dealer Oranda-Jin, 's-Hertogenbosch, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1990;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-673
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
The artist
Ryuryukyo Shinsai (n.d., but often given as 1764?-1820; the latter date is definitely incorrect as his last known designs were issued in 1825) is said to have first been follower of Tawaraya Sori, and later of Katsushika Hokusai, who gave him the art-name Shinsai in 1800. His personal name was Masayuki. He was one of the most prolific designers of surimono in the early 19th century and thoroughly explored the possibilities of issuing works in titled series.
Entry
Two sheets of patterned paper, a square shikishi and a vertical narrow poetry-slip, tanzaku, combined with sprays of camellia and blossoming plum.
Two poems by Gurendo Nakakubo [studied with Akera Kanko],4 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].5
The poem by Nakakubo speaks of the 'fragrance carried by the evening breeze in Spring', whereas Magao refers to the 'camellia from Ise'.
Coloured and Patterned Papers, Eirogami, from A Series of Papers, Kamizukushi.
This series is apparently based on an improvised selection of various kinds of paper, making it impossible to estimate the number of designs it comprised. All of them have the series- and print-title in a cartouche representing a partly unrolled sheet of paper.
Issued by the Yomogawa
Signature reading: Ryuryukyo Shinsai ga, with seal reading: Ryuryukyo
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 146
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Ryûryûkyo Shinsai, Sheets of Poetry, Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.422460
(accessed 23 November 2024 18:58:14).