Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting
height 185 mm × width 85 mm
Kitao Shigemasa
Woman Carrying a Tray of Fish on her Head
Japan, Japan, c. 1790 - c. 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, 1996;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1999
Object number: RP-P-1999-232
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
The artist
Kitao Shigemasa (1739-1820) was probably self-taught; he created a good alternative to the continuing influence of the feminine ideal of the 1760s (Harunobu and Koryusai), and occasionally collaborated with Katsukawa Shunsho. He thus paved the way for Kiyonaga and Utamaro. He also used the art-names Karan and Kosuisai. Shigemasa designed most of his surimono in his later years.
Entry
A woman in fine clothing carrying a wooden tray of sea bream, tai, and a lobster on her head.
According to the explanatory text at the top of the print, it was customary for lower-class women to wear elaborate clothes and carry fish on the 16th Day of the First Month. The design alludes to that custom.
One poem by Haikairyo.
Issued by the poet
Signature reading: Shigemasa hitsu
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 32
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Kitao Shigemasa, Woman Carrying a Tray of Fish on her Head, Japan, c. 1790 - c. 1810', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200413479
(accessed 10 December 2025 05:20:42).