Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Tree Sparrows and Camellia in Snow, Edo Period

Maker

Title

Tree Sparrows and Camellia in Snow

Year

Edo Period

Medium

ink and color

Materials/Techniques

Dimensions

Ōtanzakuban: 38 x 17.4 cm (14 15/16 x 6 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription Text/Poem: 烏鳶争食雀争巣 独立池辺風雪多
Translation: The crow fights with the kite over food, the sparrows dispute over nests;
You stand alone beside the pond, on a windy snowy evening;
(Translation from Alfred H. Marks, Hiroshige Birds and Flowers, 1988)

Signature: 廣重筆 Hiroshige hitsu (Brushed by Hiroshige)

Seals: Designer's seal: 歌川 Utagawa; Publisher's seal: 若林堂 Jakurindō (若狭屋与市 Wakasaya Yoichi)

Label: White rectangular label affixed verso, bottom left with inscription in pencil: YH474/[Japanese Characters]

Poem at right:
The crow fights with the kite over food;
The sparrows dispute over nests,
You stand alone beside the pond
On a windy snowy evening

Identification

State

Bogel entry remarks that this is the second state with falling snow and blue sky area (see 34.288.2 for fine impression of first state with uniform grey ground also on thick paper). The flaw in the block to right of poem indicates that the same block was used for both states. There is embossing on the breasts of the sparrows. A third state also with grey background has the emblem of the publisher Sanoya Kihei.

Place

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

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.288.1

Tree Sparrows and Camellia in Snow

Inscription Text/Poem: 烏鳶争食雀争巣 独立池辺風雪多
Translation: The crow fights with the kite over food, the sparrows dispute over nests;
You stand alone beside the pond, on a windy snowy evening;
(Translation from Alfred H. Marks, Hiroshige Birds and Flowers, 1988)

Signature: 廣重筆 Hiroshige hitsu (Brushed by Hiroshige)

Seals: Designer's seal: 歌川 Utagawa; Publisher's seal: 若林堂 Jakurindō (若狭屋与市 Wakasaya Yoichi)

Label: White rectangular label affixed verso, bottom left with inscription in pencil: YH474/[Japanese Characters]

Poem at right:
The crow fights with the kite over food;
The sparrows dispute over nests,
You stand alone beside the pond
On a windy snowy evening

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Edo (location)
Bogel entry remarks that this is the second state with falling snow and blue sky area (see 34.288.2 for fine impression of first state with uniform grey ground also on thick paper). The flaw in the block to right of poem indicates that the same block was used for both states. There is embossing on the breasts of the sparrows. A third state also with grey background has the emblem of the publisher Sanoya Kihei.

Exhibition History

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