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Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Plovers Flying Over Waves (Nami ni chidori)

Maker

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797-1858, b. in Edo)

Title

Plovers Flying Over Waves (Nami ni chidori)

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

1840s

Medium

  • Polychrome wood block print

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Polychrome wood block print

Materials

ink, color

Supports

  • paper

Geography

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Edo (location)

Dimensions

Image: 34 x 11.4 cm (13 3/8 x 4 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription verso, bottom right corner: R925

Poem:
Futa takumu/yowa ya chidori no/shikiri naku

Conniving in pairs/at midnight hear the plovers/piping endlessly

Signature: Signed at left | Hiroshige hitsu

Identification

Edition

The Bogel entry states that there is another version of this print with birds flying across the moon and published by Sanoya Kihei (see Tanba, 411). Ainsworth, cat. no. 1328 is another impression apparently without publisher's seal but bearing the censor's seal Takano Shinemon, therefore dated to the period 1843-47. For a version with a larger moon see Sotheby's London (January 1978), lot 117. These two and the example here are printed from different blocks. Both Bogel and Goldman and Roger Keyes (in Ainsworth) caution that differing impressions lacking censor and publisher's seals may signify re-designed prints by Hiroshige or prints copied from extant designs.

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.138

Type

  • Prints

Image use

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

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)
Plovers Flying Over Waves (Nami ni chidori), 1840s
Polychrome wood block print
Image: 34 x 11.4 cm (13 3/8 x 4 1/2 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.138

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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