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Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Auspicious Chrysanthemums 寿菊

Maker

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797–1858, b. in Edo, Japan)

Title

Auspicious Chrysanthemums 寿菊
from the series Gods of Good Fortune Represented as Flowers (花尽見立福禄寿 Hana Zukushi Mitate Fukurokuju)
The everlasting chrysanthemum (Toshigiku)

Period

Edo Period

Year

1843-1847

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink and color

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan

Dimensions

Uchiwa-e on horizontal aiban: 23.6 x 30.3 cm (9 5/16 x 11 15/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription Text/Poem: 名翁草といへるも本の寿命永きをいへり慈童ハ此水を汲て七百歳をたもち漢の閻明是を愛す

Signature: 廣重画 Hiroshige ga (Pictured by Hiroshige)

Seals: Censor's seal: 田中 Tanaka (Tanaka Heishiro)

Marks: On verso, at bottom right in pencil: Russel #40[text and poems]

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.305

Type

Exhibition History

Of Clover and Chrysanthemum
Autumn Themes in Japanese Woodblock Prints
Sep 01, 2010 – Dec 12, 2010

Label copy

The text inscription on the upper right of the fan remarks on the alternate name of the chrysanthemum, okinagusa (old man plant). This name is associated with the legend of Kikujido (the Chrysanthemum Boy), a Chinese boy exiled from the imperial court, sipped the dew of a valley filled with chrysanthemums and lived for seven hundred years. The inscription also mentions the famed Chinese poet Tao Qian (365-427) whose name closely associated with chrysanthemums. In Tao’s poem on “Drinking Wine,” there is a famous line about plucking chrysanthemums from the eastern hedge.

Feathers, Flowers, Talons and Fangs
Power and Serenity in Japanese Nature Prints
Feb 02, 2007 – Jun 10, 2007
Of Clover and Chrysanthemums
Autumn Themes on Paper and Cloth
Sep 15, 1995 – Dec 10, 1995

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797–1858, b. in Edo, Japan)
Auspicious Chrysanthemums 寿菊 ; from the series Gods of Good Fortune Represented as Flowers (花尽見立福禄寿 Hana Zukushi Mitate Fukurokuju) ; The everlasting chrysanthemum (Toshigiku), 1843-1847
Polychrome woodblock print (nishiki-e)
Uchiwa-e on horizontal aiban: 23.6 x 30.3 cm (9 5/16 x 11 15/16 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.305

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