Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Mandarin ducks and camellias in snow (Setchu tsubaki to oshidori), Edo (Japanese period)

Maker

Title

Mandarin ducks and camellias in snow (Setchu tsubaki to oshidori)

Year

Edo (Japanese period)

Medium

ink and color

Materials/Techniques

Dimensions

Koban: 21.8 x 16.8 cm (8 9/16 x 6 5/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription at left. [text and poems]Matsuyama ni (translates to) As ancient poems tell nami kosaji toya (translates to) that no wave will reach Mount Matsu oshidori futatsu (translates to) so will the love of mandarin ducks endure Poem by Yoshiji"Sue no matsuyama nami kosoji towa" is part of a poem by Kiyohara Motosuke (908-990), reknowned waka poet and compiler of the imperial anthology Gosenshu, and father of Sei Shonagan, the more famous author of Makura soshi (The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagan). Motosuke's poem, included in the Hyakunin isshu (One hundred poems by one hundred poets) concerns eternal love. "Sue no matsuyama" is a makurakotoba, or "pillow word," a word or phrase associated by meaning or pronunciation to another theme, in this case eternal love. Matsuyama is in Tohoku, the comparatively remote northeast region of the main island of Honshu. The point of the phrase is that it is as impossible for a wave to travel from the sea to Matsuyama as it is to sever eternal love.

Signature: Signature at right | Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Censor's seal | kiwame

Place

Place Made: Japan

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.347

Mandarin ducks and camellias in snow (Setchu tsubaki to oshidori)

Inscription at left. [text and poems]Matsuyama ni (translates to) As ancient poems tell nami kosaji toya (translates to) that no wave will reach Mount Matsu oshidori futatsu (translates to) so will the love of mandarin ducks endure Poem by Yoshiji"Sue no matsuyama nami kosoji towa" is part of a poem by Kiyohara Motosuke (908-990), reknowned waka poet and compiler of the imperial anthology Gosenshu, and father of Sei Shonagan, the more famous author of Makura soshi (The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagan). Motosuke's poem, included in the Hyakunin isshu (One hundred poems by one hundred poets) concerns eternal love. "Sue no matsuyama" is a makurakotoba, or "pillow word," a word or phrase associated by meaning or pronunciation to another theme, in this case eternal love. Matsuyama is in Tohoku, the comparatively remote northeast region of the main island of Honshu. The point of the phrase is that it is as impossible for a wave to travel from the sea to Matsuyama as it is to sever eternal love.

Signature: Signature at right | Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Censor's seal | kiwame

Place Made: Japan
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