Object data
nishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting
height 194 mm × width 133 mm
Yashima Gakutei
A standing Court Lady
Japan, Japan, c. 1828
Provenance
…; purchased from the dealer Bernard Haase, London, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1999;1 by whom donated to the museum, 1999
Object number: RP-P-1999-242
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Copyright: Public domain
Context
The artist
Yashima Gakutei (1786?-1868), a pupil of Totoya Hokkei, was also strongly influenced by Katsushika Hokusai. He used the art-names Harunobu, Sadaoka and Yashima. In addition to his designs for surimono and kyoka collections - he was probably the most prolific designer in this genre – he was also a poet and writer as well as a great Sinologist.
Entry
A court lady dressed in elaborate traditional clothing and holding a folded fan, against a dark ground, beams radiating around her. She represents Sotoorihime, one of the Three Gods of Japanese Poetry.
This is actually a reprint after the image in the series Three Gods of Japanese Poetry, Wakasanjin, of circa 1826 (RP-P-1958-370). The Three Gods of Japanese Poetry, Wakasanjin, is essentially a group of eminent poets. However, various authorities define them in different ways. The earliest were probably three gods such as Uwazutsunoo no mikoto, Nakazutsunoo no mikoto and Sokozutsunoo no mikoto, all worshipped as enshrined deities at Sumiyoshi. Drawing upon more classical poets, some have identified them as Sotoorihime, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Yamabe no Akahito; sometimes Yamabe no Akahito is replaced with Sumiyoshi Myojin. Another combination is Sumiyoshi Myojin, Tenman Tenjin and Tamatsushima no kami.
Although this may initially appear to be a cut-down shikishiban, it is complete as it is.
One poem by Hakumosha Manmori [a judge of the Katsushikaren, according to Kano,4 which appears to be correct in view of his involvement in an untitled pentaptych on the Soga drama designed by Gakutei in c. 1823, RP-P-1958-415].
Issued by the poet
Signature reading: Gakutei
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 176
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Yashima Gakutei, A standing Court Lady, Japan, c. 1828', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.359194
(accessed 22 November 2024 23:18:08).