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桜下遊宴の二美人
Women at a Cherry-blossom Viewing Party
桜下遊宴の二美人
Keisai Eisen (Japanese, 1790–1848)
Japanese
Edo period
1820s
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Shikishiban diptych; 20.8 x 18 cm (8 3/16 x 7 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.26689-90
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
Cherry blossom viewing along the banks of the Sumida River was a popular spring pastime in the city of Edo. Two elegantly dressed women enjoy the blossoms; one holds out a sake cup to the other, who prepares to write a poem on a decorated slip of paper. The butterfly insignia on the poetess’ sleeve belongs to the author of both poems, Ryūōtei Edo no Hananari, the pen name of the daimyo lord Mōri Narimoto. Though the comic verse of surimono was not thought appropriate for a high-ranking lord, Narimoto was an avid fan of such popular delights.
Catalogue Raisonné
Chiba Mus., Ukiyo-e bi no kiwami (Baur coll. exh. cat., 2001), #90 (complete diptych); Hizô Ukiyo-e taikan/Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections 12, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin (1988), pl. 125 (complete diptych)
DescriptionDiptych: 11.26689 (left), 11.26690 (right)
Signed
Keisai Eisen ga (on each sheet)
渓斎英泉画
渓斎英泉画
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.
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.