Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806). One woodblock print
2004
Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806)
One woodblock print
Oban tate-e; entitled Kakinomoto no Hitomaro from the series Kodomo asobi sanjurokkassen, sanjuroku mai tsuzuki (Child's Play, the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, a thirty-six sheet series), ca. 1806, signed Utamaro ga, publisher mark of Izumoji Manjiro - very good impression, somewhat faded, some soiling, especially along the edges, glassine hinges to the reverse top edge
15 3/8 x 10 5/8in (39.1 x 27.2cm)
Sold for US$ 2,750 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • Another impression in the Brooklyn Museum [accession number 82.191]. Published without the title cartouche, it was mis-identified as from the series Tosei Kodomo Rokkasen.

    The Kokin Wakashu poem to the top is attributed to Kakinomoto Hitomaro: ume no hana/sore to mo miezu/hisakata no/amagiru yuki no/nabete furereba
    (We cannot detect/the flowering plum tree's blossoms, for white flakes of snow/flutter to earth everywhere,/obscuring the lofty skies)
    Translation by Helen Craig McCullough, Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry (Stanford, 1985), p. 81, poem 334.

Category: Asian Art / Japanese Art

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