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Ryūryūkyo Shinsai 柳々居辰斎

Turtle Netsuke and Cloth

Maker

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai 柳々居辰斎 (Edo 1799-1820)

Title

Turtle Netsuke and Cloth

Period

Edo Period

Year

1822

Medium

  • Polychrome woodblock print with metallic embellishment

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Polychrome woodblock print with metallic embellishment

Materials

ink and color

Supports

  • paper

Geography

Origin: Japan

Dimensions

Surimono: 19.4 x 18.3 cm (7 5/8 x 7 3/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription Text/Poem: 春風につれていさむや青柳のむちをあてたる野辺の若駒 和鳳亭糸長


Inscription Text/Poem: 年礼に見る花またも袴着てひらきなほりし元日の草 小松亭原見


Inscription Text/Poem: 千金の春をむかへて若水に万代まてもふえる銭亀 富貴窓花丸

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of George Pierce Metcalf

Object Number

56.039.22

Type

  • Prints

Exhibition History

Samurai At Leisure
Nov 26, 2019 – May 24, 2020

Label copy

This still-life depicts objects commonly found in affluent Japanese homes in the 1700s. Here a few volumes of books, a stenciled cloth, and a potted plant are grouped with a lacquered and painted ornamental box (inro) attached to a carved turtle toggle (netsuke).

Samurai were encouraged to pursue literary studies and civilian arts, and many engaged in connoisseurial activities, collecting finely carved inro and netsuke as well as ornately decorated blue and white porcelain. These surimono prints, produced on thick paper using complex techniques, were most conducive for conveying

the textures of these treasured objects.

Marking the Occasion
The Japanese Tradition of Surimono
Feb 03, 2006 – May 28, 2006

Label copy

The netsuke (sash toggle) in the shape of a turtle in the foreground conveys a wish for long life, while the horse imprinted on the cloth below identifies this surimono as a New Year’s greeting probably made for the year of the horse, 1822.

Marking the Occasion
Surimono from Edo and Osaka
Sep 15, 2000 – Dec 03, 2000

Label copy

The netsuke (sash toggle) in the shape of a turtle in the foreground conveys a wish for long life, while the horse imprinted on the cloth below identifies this surimono as a New Year’s greeting probably made for a year of the horse. Other prints in the “horse” group exhibited here have been tentatively dated to 1822, but in this case Shinsai’s death date might point to the previous horse year of 1810.

Surimono
Selections from the Japanese Print Collection
Jun 09, 1998 – Sep 08, 1998
Small Pleasures
Surimono from the Nineteenth Century
Mar 15, 1991 – Apr 28, 1991
  • More Exhibition History +

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

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai 柳々居辰斎 (Edo 1799-1820)
Turtle Netsuke and Cloth, 1822
Polychrome woodblock print with metallic embellishment
Surimono: 19.4 x 18.3 cm (7 5/8 x 7 3/16 inches)
Gift of George Pierce Metcalf 56.039.22

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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