Image

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Small Birds and Lacecap Hydrangea (Ajisai ni kotori)

Description

Maker

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

Title

Small Birds and Lacecap Hydrangea (Ajisai ni kotori)

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

1830s

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink, color

Supports

Geography

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

Dimensions

Image: 36.5 x 12.9 cm (14 3/8 x 5 1/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Poem:
Ajisai ya/asagi ni shibashi/yo o bakasu

A myriad of hydrangeas-light blue for awhile

Masses of hydrangeas literally "filling the world" (yo o bakasu) are an astonishing sight. The phrase also has the meaning of "to cheat." Hydrangeas change color from the time they first bloom to their height. So too can a person (likely a courtesan likened to the opulent flower) change one's mind in the midst of an assignation or affair.

White rectangular label affixed verso, bottom right with inscription in pencil: YE336/[Japanese Characters]

Signature: Signed at right | Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Publisher's seal | Fujiokaya Hikotarô (Fujihiko); censor's seal | kiwame

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.240

Type

Use & Feedback

Image 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 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)
Fujiokaya Hikotaro (Japanese, ca. 19th century), publisher
Small Birds and Lacecap Hydrangea (Ajisai ni kotori), 1830s
Polychrome woodblock print
Image: 36.5 x 12.9 cm (14 3/8 x 5 1/16 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.240

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.