Image
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重
Description
Maker
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797-1858, b. in Edo, Japan)
Maruya Seijiro, publisher
Title
Ayu fish and hydrangea (Ajisai ni ayu)
Period
Year
Medium
Materials/Techniques
-
Techniques
Materials
ink, colorSupports
Geography
-
Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo
Dimensions
-
Image: 23.3 x 17.5 cm (9 3/16 x 6 7/8 inches)
Signature / Inscription / Marks
-
Inscription verso, bottom right in pencil:X2977/[Japanese Characters][text and poems] ajisai ni ayu (title); poem: Ajisai ya/asagi ni shibashi/yo o bakasuA myriad of hydrangeas-light blue for awhileMasses of hydrangeas literally "filling the world" (yo o bakasu) are an astonishing sight. The phrase also has the meaning of "to cheat." Hydrangeas change color from the time they first bloom to their height. So too can a person (likely a courtesan likened to the opulent flower) change one's mind in the midst of an assignation or affair. 34.240/K90
Signature: Signed on each | Hiroshige hitsu
Seals: Publisher's seal | Sei ~ in circle; censor's seal | kiwame Credit / Object Number
-
Credit
Gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Object Number
34.349B Type
Related Objects
Related Objects
Use & Feedback
Image use
The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.
Tombstone
Maruya Seijiro, publisher
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.