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Utagawa Hiroshige

Preparatory drawings: Titmouse on plum branch; Mandarin ducks under snow-laden bamboo, 1840's

Description

Maker

Title

Preparatory drawings: Titmouse on plum branch; Mandarin ducks under snow-laden bamboo

Year

1840's

Medium

ink and color on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

Image: 38.9 x 17.5 cm (15 5/16 x 6 7/8 inches) Mat size: D

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription

[text and poems]
Urawakaki (translates to) Little titmouse
ume o kuguri te(translates to) twisting on the plum branch
shijûkara (translates to) glowing with youth
haru o sakasa ni (translates to) wants to be upside down
kosu kokochi semu (translates to) when the New Year arrives
Oku shimo no (translates to) A layer of frost
ue ni mo yuki o (translates to) and a cover of snow
kasanekite (translates to) slowly deepening
kireba kisamu* to (translates to) We will melt away
oshidori no naku (translates to) cry the mandarin ducks

Place

Japan; Tokyo

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.296

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Process and Function

January 19 - May 27, 2007

This finely finished drawing by Hiroshige was apparently never employed for a print. Usually drawings of this type did not survive because they were cut up as the block cutter traced the design with a sharp tool onto the keyblock. The double composition demonstrates how prints such as that to the right would have been designed and prepared for printing from a single block.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Preparatory drawings: Titmouse on plum branch; Mandarin ducks under snow-laden bamboo with the accession number of 34.296. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.