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Courtesan Reading a Letter by Moonlight Reflected on Snow; Parody of Son Kang


見立孫康 (雪明かりで文を読む女)
Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725–1770)
Designer: Risen (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
1765 (Meiwa 2)

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical chûban; 26.8 x 20 cm (10 9/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.19438
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Kobayashi, Harunobu taizen (2023), #004; MFA, Suzuki Harunobu (exh. cat., 2017), #27; Waterhouse, The Harunobu Decade (2013), #039; Chiba 2002, #48 (this impression); Ukiyo-e shûka 4 (1979), list #178.1, and supp. 1 (1982), pl. 12
DescriptionFirst state, with seal of designer Risen and calendar information in the letter.

MFA impressions: 11.19438 (first state), 11.19439 (third state)
Signed (seal only)
Marks Designer's seal: Risen
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.