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Image

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III)

Cuckoo and Moon (Tsuki ni hototogisu)

Description

Maker

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III) (1786-1865, b. in Edo, Japan)

Title

Cuckoo and Moon (Tsuki ni hototogisu)

Period

Edo Period

Year

1828

Medium

  • polychrome woodblock print

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Polychrome woodblock print

Materials

ink, color

Supports

  • paper

Geography

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Dimensions

Image: 23.3 x 29.7 cm (9 3/16 x 11 11/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription verso, bottom left in pencil: MOC 1125/[Japanese Characters?]; in a later hand inscribed in pencil verso, bottom center: NT/a

[notations]
Hototogisu/naku ya Musashi to/Shimousa no/Ryogoku kake te/tatta hito koe

From above Ryogoku, across the provinces of Musashi and Shimosa, the cry of the nightingale

The bird is flying over the Sumida River. A harbinger of summer, its powerful cry comes first in the night and extends over two provinces, here Musashi and Shimosa. Another related poem appears on 34.589/K 217.

Signature: Kochoro Kunisada ga

Seals: Censor's seal | kiwame; date seal | 1829

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.311

Type

  • Prints

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Japanese Print Collection
May 13, 2016 – Dec 04, 2016
The Art of the Fan
Uchiwa-e in Japanese Prints
Dec 07, 2001 – Mar 03, 2002

Label copy

The cuckoo (hototogisu) is associated with summer. In this lovely fan with its highly evocative composition, the moon and the cuckoo complement each other beautifully.

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

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

Tombstone

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III) (1786-1865, b. in Edo, Japan)
Cuckoo and Moon (Tsuki ni hototogisu), 1828
Polychrome woodblock print
Image: 23.3 x 29.7 cm (9 3/16 x 11 11/16 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.311

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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