Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Morning glories (Asagao)

Maker

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797-1858, b. in Edo)
Aritaya Seiemon (Japanese, ca. 19th century), publisher

Title

Morning glories (Asagao)
Fashionable refreshing summer flower gardens
Furyo natsu no hanazono

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

1843-1847

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink, color

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Dimensions

Image: 21.1 x 29.4 cm (8 5/16 x 11 9/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Signed at left | Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Censor's seal | Yoshimura Gentaro

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.303

Type

Exhibition History

Hiroshige
Selections from the Collection
Mar 07, 2003 – Jun 01, 2003
The Art of the Fan
Uchiwa-e in Japanese Prints
Dec 07, 2001 – Mar 03, 2002
Fan-Shaped Bird and Flower Prints from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Collection
May 11, 1990 – Jun 30, 1990

Label copy

Morning glories appear in many classical poems. One famous example can be found in episode 37 of Tales of Ise, in which a man who visits a flirtatious lady cautions her with the following poem:

Ware narade/Shitahimo toku na/Asagao no/Yukage matanu/Hana ni wa ari tomo.

Though your affections be ephemeral/As the morning-glory's flower,/Gone before sunset,/ Do not loosen your under­ sash/For anyone but me .

(Translation by Helen C. McCullough in Tales of Ise, Stanford Univ. Press, 1968)

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

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797-1858, b. in Edo)
Aritaya Seiemon (Japanese, ca. 19th century), publisher
Morning glories (Asagao); Fashionable refreshing summer flower gardens; Furyo natsu no hanazono, 1843-1847
Polychrome woodblock print
Image: 21.1 x 29.4 cm (8 5/16 x 11 9/16 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.303

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