Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Butterflies and peonies, Edo (Japanese period)

Maker

Title

Butterflies and peonies

Year

Edo (Japanese period)

Medium

ink

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Techniques

Supports

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

Place

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.081

Butterflies and peonies

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

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo
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