Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Butterflies and peonies

Maker

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797-1858, b. in Edo)

Title

Butterflies and peonies

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

1843-1847

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Dimensions

34.4 x 7.6 cm (13 9/16 x 3 inches) (sheet) ko-tanzaku; Mat size: B; Asian Art Department Carpenter Inventory and Cataloging Project 200

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription at left.
[text and poems]
Hawa aoku/botan no hana no/sugata kana

Behold the peony bloom with verdant leaves

(Aoku means "blue or green" and has the sense of fresh and verdant; sugata means "shape," which may mean the form of the flower or even imply the form of the poet standing in front of it. Aoku may also play on "blue" as the print could have been issued as a blue-print aizuri-e.

Signature: Signed at right | Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Censor's seal | Watanabe Shoemon

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.081

Type

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 (Japanese, 1797-1858, b. in Edo)
Butterflies and peonies, 1843-1847
woodblock print
34.4 x 7.6 cm (13 9/16 x 3 inches) (sheet) ko-tanzaku; Mat size: B; Asian Art Department Carpenter Inventory and Cataloging Project 200
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.081

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