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Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III)

The Twelfth Month: Making Mochi Cakes (Shiwasu: Mochitsuki)

Description

Maker

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786-1865, b. in Edo)
Tsutaya Kichizō 蔦屋吉蔵 (Japanese, c. 1830-1859, active in Edo, Japan), publisher

Title

The Twelfth Month: Making Mochi Cakes (Shiwasu: Mochitsuki)
Twelve Months
Junikagetsu no uchi

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

1854

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

color, ink

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Dimensions

Overall: 36 x 74.4 cm (14 3/16 x 29 5/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Toyokuni ga

Seals: Censor's seal | aratame; date seal | 1854.6

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Marshall H. Gould

Object Number

30.039.5

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Kunisada's Twelve Month Series
Oct 10, 2008 – Feb 01, 2009

Label copy

In this final month of the winter season, preparations for the New Year festivities are underway as five women and a man make rice cakes (mochi) in the kitchen. Auspicious symbols of the coming year appear as small details: the turtle of long life is depicted on the fan of the woman on the left, and gourds, a symbol of good luck, are visible on the sliding screens behind her.

The publisher has included his mark on the lantern on the right as a form of self-advertisement. Similar lanterns appear in the print for The Seventh Month.

Kunisada's Twelve Months
Images of Women in Japanese Woodblock Prints
Mar 07, 1997 – May 03, 1997
The Twelve Months at Home
Mar 27, 1992 – May 17, 1992

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786-1865, b. in Edo)
Tsutaya Kichizō 蔦屋吉蔵 (Japanese, c. 1830-1859, active in Edo, Japan), publisher
The Twelfth Month: Making Mochi Cakes (Shiwasu: Mochitsuki); Twelve Months; Junikagetsu no uchi, 1854
Polychrome woodblock triptych
Overall: 36 x 74.4 cm (14 3/16 x 29 5/16 inches)
Gift of Marshall H. Gould 30.039.5

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