Image

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Small Bird and Chrysanthemums (Kiku ni kotori)

Description

Maker

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797-1858, b. in Edo, Japan)
Kawaguchiya Shōzō 川口屋正蔵 (ca. 1824-1852), publisher

Title

Small Bird and Chrysanthemums (Kiku ni kotori)

Period

Edo Period

Year

1830s

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink, color

Supports

Geography

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

Dimensions

Image: 37 x 12.2 cm (14 9/16 x 4 13/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Red square stamp verso, bottom right corner.

Poem:
Kichô omou

Thoughts on an Exotic Bird

Taihô no/takaki kokoro no/kimi yue ni/ukimi o sasai/yori mo tsukarezu

He is a great lord,/with a mind that flies as high/as that of the roc,/so he will have none of me,/who dare not fly very high.

Signature: Signed at left | Hiroshige hitsu

Seals: Artist's seal | Ichiryûsai; publisher's seal | Kawaguchiya Shôzô (Kawashô)

Identification

Edition

Version with wood grain in blue shading lower left

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Object Number

34.217.2

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Of Clover and Chrysanthemum
Autumn Themes in Japanese Woodblock Prints
Sep 01, 2010 – Dec 12, 2010

Label copy

A small yellow bird perches on the red and white chrysanthemums, and next to it inscribed a kyôka poem (light verse) which reads:

“Thoughts on an Exotic Bird

He is a great lord,

with a mind that flies as high

as that of the roc.

So he will have none of me,

who dare not fly very high.”

Of Clover and Chrysanthemums
Autumn Themes on Paper and Cloth
Sep 15, 1995 – Dec 10, 1995

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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 Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797-1858, b. in Edo, Japan)
Kawaguchiya Shōzō 川口屋正蔵 (ca. 1824-1852), publisher
Small Bird and Chrysanthemums (Kiku ni kotori), 1830s
Polychrome wood block print
Image: 37 x 12.2 cm (14 9/16 x 4 13/16 inches)
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 34.217.2

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