Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Small Birds and Lacecap Hydrangea (Ajisai ni kotori), Edo (Japanese period)

Maker

Title

Small Birds and Lacecap Hydrangea (Ajisai ni kotori)

Year

Edo (Japanese period)

Medium

ink, color

Materials/Techniques

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

Place

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

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.240

Small Birds and Lacecap Hydrangea (Ajisai ni kotori)

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

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Edo (location)
The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Small Birds and Lacecap Hydrangea (Ajisai ni kotori) with the accession number of 34.240. To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.