Ise Bay (Ise Tsu), from the series Impressions of Spring (Shunkyō) Artist: Yanagawa Shigenobu II (Japanese, active ca. 1820–60)

ca. 1825

Asian Art

By appointment, Duffy Study Room

二代目柳川重信 「伊勢津 春興」 江戸時代


This print is part of a diptych by Yanagawa Shigenobu II, the adopted son of Yanagawa Shigenobu I (1787–1832)—who was, in turn, the pupil, son-in-law, and adopted son of Katsushika Hokusai. In it, the courtly poet and imperial grandson Ariwara no Narihira (825–880 C.E. sits beside a window in a well-appointed but simply furnished room. He is depicted as the paragon of the dashing aesthete and literary lover, in the custom of the ancient imperial Heian court (794–1185). The window opens onto a translucent moon, which rises over a blossoming plum tree and pine that are indicative of spring. The pale red cartouche at top right indicates that the scene takes place at Ise Bay, near the Ise Grand Shrine, which is dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu and located in present-day Mie Prefecture.

Medium

Surimono, shikishi-ban; polychrome woodblock print with brass and silver pigment, bokashi (fading technique), and gauffrage

Dimensions

sheet: 8 1/4 × 7 1/16 in. (21 × 18 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Virginia Shawan Drosten and Patrick Kenadjian, B.A. 1970

Accession Number

2022.25.10

Geography

Japan

Culture

Japanese

Period

Edo period (1615–1868)

Classification

Prints

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Unknown collector, Netherlands, by 2005; sold to Joan B. Mirviss (dealer), New York, 2005; sold to Virginia Shawan Drosten and Patrick Kenadjian, Koenigstein im Taunus, Germany, 2005 (on loan to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2017–present)
Bibliography
  • "Selected Acquisitions," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2022–23), 123, ill
  • Sadako Ohki and Adam Haliburton, The Private World of Surimono: Japanese Prints from the Virginia Shawan Drosten and Patrick Kenadjian Collection (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2020), 164–67, no. 45, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

color woodcuts, surimono

Inscriptions

Oginoya:\r\nThe moon at rest this spring night\r\non the icy surface of the water in the garden--\r\nis it of a mind to stretch out on the bare floor?\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nYorozuyonoya:\r\n--I would send it, but since\r\nthe branch of plum is not yet ablaze,\r\nshall I attach a fan-winged bird,\r\nto stoke the flames?\r\n\r\n\r\nTranslated Adam Haliburton, 5/11/2018. Revised 5/31.\r\n\r\n\r\n* the second poem refers to entry 66 in the Tsurezuregusa, about ways of attaching pheasants to plum branches\r\nPoem 1: Ogi no ya 荻の屋\r\n\r\nitajiki ni/ fusu kokochi sen/ yarimizu no/ koori ni yadoru/ haru no yo no tsuki\r\n\r\n--Was it of a mind to recline on the bare floor--\r\nthe moon at rest this spring night\r\non the frozen water in the garden.\r\n\r\n板敷尓　ふ寿古ゝちせん　やり水能　氷尓宿る　春の夜の月\r\n\r\nPoem 2: Yorozuyo no ya 万代の屋\r\n\r\nokuru ni mo/ mada hi tomosa nu/ ume nareba/ hiuchiba no aru/ tori ya tsukemashi\r\n\r\n--I would send it, but since\r\nthe branch of plum is not yet ablaze,\r\nshall I attach a bellow-winged bird,\r\nto stroke the flames?\r\n\r\n\r\n贈る尓も　ま多火と毛さぬ　梅なれハ　火打羽の阿る　鳥やつけまし\r\n\r\n\r\n* the second poem refers to entry 66 in the Tsurezuregusa, about ways of attaching pheasants to plum branches\r\n\r\nTranslated Adam Haliburton, 5/11/2018. Revised 5/31.\r\n\r\n

Signed

Yanagawa Shigenobu; Sealed: Yanagawa
柳川重信　Seal: 柳川

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