Keisai Eisen 渓斎英泉

Kingfisher and Bamboo

Maker

Keisai Eisen 渓斎英泉 (1790-1848, b. in Edo, Japan)
Yamamotoya Heikichi 山本屋平吉 (1816 - 1886), publisher

Title

Kingfisher and Bamboo

Period

Edo Period

Year

ca. 1820-1830

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink and color

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan

Dimensions

Aiban: 35.1 x 23.2 cm (13 13/16 x 9 1/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: 英泉画 Eisen ga (Pictured by Eisen)

Seals: Censor's seal: 極 kiwame
Publisher's seal: Cross sickle with 久 below (Yamamotoya Heikichi)

Marks: Inscription verso, bottom left in pencil: [?]1209 [Japanese Characters]

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.513

Type

Exhibition History

Shimmering Beauty
Kingfishers in Art and Poetry
Dec 20, 2025 – Jun 07, 2026

Label copy

Kingfishers are depicted many times throughout the more than 700 prints in Abby Aldrich Rockefeller’s bird-and-flower collection. Whether pairing them with poems on long slender sheets modeled after the paper strips used for poetry writing or presenting them in smaller dimensions intended for more intimate viewing, Japanese printmakers repeatedly returned to these remarkable birds, capturing and adapting their likenesses across different formats.

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

Keisai Eisen 渓斎英泉 (1790-1848, b. in Edo, Japan)
Yamamotoya Heikichi 山本屋平吉 (1816 - 1886), publisher
Kingfisher and Bamboo , ca. 1820-1830
Polychrome woodblock print (nishiki-e)
Aiban: 35.1 x 23.2 cm (13 13/16 x 9 1/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.513

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