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Charm against Measles


痳疹よけのまじない
Utagawa Yoshimori (Japanese, 1830–1884)
Publisher: Kogaya Katsugorô (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
1862 (Bunkyû 2), 4th month

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban; 35.2 x 24.5 cm (13 7/8 x 9 5/8 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.37282
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Hatanaka, Nihon ekibyô zusetsu (2021), p. 52; Tomizawa, Nishiki-e no chikara (2005), chart 11, #37, photo p. 134; Konishi, Nishiki-e Bakumatsu Meiji no rekishi 2 (1977), p. 75
DescriptionTo avoid measles, copy the poem on a leaf and float the leaf away down a river. If no suitable leaf is available, this print may be cut up and used instead.
Signed Yoshimori giga
芳盛画
Marks Censor's seal: Dog 4 aratame
No blockcutter's mark
改印:戌四改
彫師:なし
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850–d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 19, 2005)

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.