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  • A seated figure in patterned robes cuts an iris leaf into the shape of an arrow.
  • A seated figure in patterned robes cuts an iris leaf into the shape of an arrow.

Harukawa Goshichi 春川五七

A Woman Making an Arrow from an Iris Leaf

Maker

Harukawa Goshichi 春川五七 (ca. 1776-1831, b. in Edo, worked in Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto)
Tani Seikō 谷清好 (1822 - 1831, Edo and Osaka, Japan), block carver

Title

A Woman Making an Arrow from an Iris Leaf

Period

Edo Period

Year

mid-1820s

Medium

  • Polychrome woodblock print with embossing and metallic embellishments (surimono)

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Polychrome woodblock print with embossing and metallic embellishments (surimono)

Materials

ink and color

Supports

  • paper

Geography

Origin: Japan

Dimensions

Shikishiban: 21.9 x 17.9 cm (8 5/8 x 7 1/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription Text/Poem: もののふの いわふ節句の 菖蒲もて 造し矢にも ふみややむすばん
- 大江長住

輝夜姫の 不死の薬に あえなんと 富士額にも かざす菖蒲か
- 鶴迺屋

Translation: Has she fashioned an iris leaf into an arrow for the annual festival honoring warriors, or to attach to a love letter?
- Ōe Nagasumi

Reflecting on Princess Kaguya's elixir of immortality, she places a coronet of irises on her forehead
- Tsurunoya

(Translated in Carpenter, Reading Surimono (2008), p. 198)

Signature: 春川五七筆 (Brushed by Harukawa Goshichi)

Seals: Designer's seal: Kamiya
Block carver's seal: 谷清好 Tani Seikō

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of George Pierce Metcalf

Object Number

56.039.42

Type

  • Prints

Exhibition History

Deep Cuts
Stories from Japanese Surimono Prints
May 23, 2026 – Oct 04, 2026
Private Images in Print
Surimono
Jul 31, 1992 – Sep 27, 1992
Japanese Surimono Prints
Nov 28, 1986 – Jan 25, 1987

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

Harukawa Goshichi 春川五七 (ca. 1776-1831, b. in Edo, worked in Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto)
Tani Seikō 谷清好 (1822 - 1831, Edo and Osaka, Japan), block carver
A Woman Making an Arrow from an Iris Leaf, mid-1820s
Polychrome woodblock print with embossing and metallic embellishments (surimono)
Shikishiban: 21.9 x 17.9 cm (8 5/8 x 7 1/16 inches)
Gift of George Pierce Metcalf 56.039.42

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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