Torii Kiyomitsu II (Kiyomine)

Year of the Horse

Maker

Torii Kiyomitsu II (Kiyomine) (Japanese, 1787-1868)
Mikawa (Japanese), publisher

Title

Year of the Horse
from the series Twelve Signs of the Zodiac in Ukiyo-e (Ukiyo jyūnishi)
Ukiyo junishi

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

1810s

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan

Dimensions

Vertical ōban: 36.4 x 22.2 cm (14 5/16 x 8 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Kiyomine ga

Seals: Censor's seal | kiwame

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs.Gustav Radeke

Object Number

20.1155

Type

Exhibition History

Striking Chords
Music in *Ukiyo-E* Prints
Feb 05, 2022 – Jul 31, 2022

Label copy

In this print representing the Year of the Horse, a woman with a shamisen looks indulgingly at a little boy riding a hobbyhorse. The round cartouche in the upper left frames a white horse, a sacred image in Japanese Indigenous belief. Seeing a white horse early in the year was considered auspicious.

Music pervaded joyous occasions, and prints that paired beautiful women and instruments were especially popular. Beyond the theater and entertainment districts, many households were filled with the strains of the shamisen, as shown in this domestic scene.

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

Torii Kiyomitsu II (Kiyomine) (Japanese, 1787-1868)
Mikawa (Japanese), publisher
Year of the Horse; from the series Twelve Signs of the Zodiac in Ukiyo-e (Ukiyo jyūnishi); Ukiyo junishi, 1810s
Polychrome wood block print
Vertical ōban: 36.4 x 22.2 cm (14 5/16 x 8 3/4 inches)
Gift of Mrs.Gustav Radeke 20.1155

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.