Object data
nishikie
height 176 mm × width 130 mm
anonymous
Man and Woman by a Palanquin
Japan, 1799
Inscriptions
-
lower left, in red ink, seal of the blockcutter, chōkō Okamoto Shōgyo (II?)
Provenance
…; purchased from the dealer C.P.J. van der Peet Japanese Prints, Amsterdam, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1991;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-682
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
Japanese reference works do not distinguish between an Okamoto Shogyo I, and a second block-cutter of this name. It would be a rare case if a craftsman sufficiently skilled in the new technique of full-colour printing by 1765 was still active by 1799. Therefore, it is assumed here that the block-cutter Okamoto Shogyo responsible for the blocks used in printing this design was the second of the name, probably active from 1786 to 1799, Shogyo I probably being active from 1765 to 1775.
The printing of the design in rather flat coloured areas as well as the block-cutter's seal stamped in the lower left corner are more reminiscent of egoyomi of the 1780s than of prints of the late Kansei period (1789-1801).
Entry
A man, a pipe in one hand and a set of smoking utensils in the other, turns his head as he passes a woman kneeling by a palanquin. The woman holds a plant she has just picked, apparently showing it to an older man seated in the palanquin on the ground.
This print is a picture calendar, egoyomi, for 1799, with the numerals for the long months, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 and 12, printed on the man's towel, tenugui, tucked under his sash, and chose for the short months, 1, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11, on the woman's tenugui.
One poem by Hokentei Migaku. The poem refers to the young herbs the woman is picking.
Issued by the poet
Unsigned
Block-cutter: Okamoto Shogyo (II?)
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 22
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'anonymous, Man and Woman by a Palanquin, Japan, 1799', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.377891
(accessed 14 November 2024 14:17:52).