Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Ayu fish and hydrangea (Ajisai ni ayu), Edo Period

Maker

Title

Ayu fish and hydrangea (Ajisai ni ayu)

Year

Edo Period

Medium

ink, color

Materials/Techniques

Dimensions

Image: 23.3 x 17.5 cm (9 3/16 x 6 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription verso, bottom right in pencil:X2977/[Japanese Characters][text and poems] ajisai ni ayu (title); poem: Ajisai ya/asagi ni shibashi/yo o bakasuA myriad of hydrangeas-light blue for awhileMasses of hydrangeas literally "filling the world" (yo o bakasu) are an astonishing sight. The phrase also has the meaning of "to cheat." Hydrangeas change color from the time they first bloom to their height. So too can a person (likely a courtesan likened to the opulent flower) change one's mind in the midst of an assignation or affair. 34.240/K90

Signature: Signed on each | Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Publisher's seal | Sei ~ in circle; censor's seal | kiwame

Place

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.349B

Ayu fish and hydrangea (Ajisai ni ayu)

Inscription verso, bottom right in pencil:X2977/[Japanese Characters][text and poems] ajisai ni ayu (title); poem: Ajisai ya/asagi ni shibashi/yo o bakasuA myriad of hydrangeas-light blue for awhileMasses of hydrangeas literally "filling the world" (yo o bakasu) are an astonishing sight. The phrase also has the meaning of "to cheat." Hydrangeas change color from the time they first bloom to their height. So too can a person (likely a courtesan likened to the opulent flower) change one's mind in the midst of an assignation or affair. 34.240/K90

Signature: Signed on each | Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Publisher's seal | Sei ~ in circle; censor's seal | kiwame

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo
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