Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Cuckoo in Rain (Uchu no hototogisu), Edo Period

Maker

Title

Cuckoo in Rain (Uchu no hototogisu)

Year

Edo Period

Medium

ink, color

Materials/Techniques

Dimensions

Image: 34.1 x 12.7 cm (13 7/16 x 5 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription Text/Poem
Translation: Two voices crossing high over, A cuckoo and rain
(trans. Marks in Bogel)

Marks mentions that the cuckoo is known for its voice and its ability to avoid bad weather (except in this design). He speculates that the open beak of the bird may indicate he is squawking about this fact.

A twofold cry can be heard over five hundred capes, the cuckoo

A different interpretation alludes to the range of the cuckoo's cry: The cuckoo's cry reaches more than two provinces beyond or reaching farther than two provinces. Forrer makes this allusion and corrects the transliteration in Bogel

*Hototogisu is a seasonal word for summer and its song a symbol of unrequited love.

Signature: Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Publisher's seal | Shoeido; censor's seal | kiwame

Marks: Verso, bottom right in pencil: EGR321[text and poems]

Identification

Edition

Edition: The Bogel entry remarks that the print shows edges of the second print originally printed on the same ?ban sheet; Forrer states that the other print is Owl and Pine in Moonlight (34.220) in the collection.

Place

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

20.1244

Cuckoo in Rain (Uchu no hototogisu)

Edition: The Bogel entry remarks that the print shows edges of the second print originally printed on the same ?ban sheet; Forrer states that the other print is Owl and Pine in Moonlight (34.220) in the collection.

Inscription Text/Poem
Translation: Two voices crossing high over, A cuckoo and rain
(trans. Marks in Bogel)

Marks mentions that the cuckoo is known for its voice and its ability to avoid bad weather (except in this design). He speculates that the open beak of the bird may indicate he is squawking about this fact.

A twofold cry can be heard over five hundred capes, the cuckoo

A different interpretation alludes to the range of the cuckoo's cry: The cuckoo's cry reaches more than two provinces beyond or reaching farther than two provinces. Forrer makes this allusion and corrects the transliteration in Bogel

*Hototogisu is a seasonal word for summer and its song a symbol of unrequited love.

Signature: Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Publisher's seal | Shoeido; censor's seal | kiwame

Marks: Verso, bottom right in pencil: EGR321[text and poems]

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo
The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Cuckoo in Rain (Uchu no hototogisu) with the accession number of 20.1244. To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.