Seven Shells at the Edge of the Sea, from the series Shells Compendium (Kaizukushi)

1821 (Year of the Snake)

魚屋北渓　「貝尽くし」　江戸時代

This is one of a series of twelve shell prints designed by Totoya Hokkei and issued by the Fundarika-ren (White Lotus Club) in 1821. All twelve are rendered in subdued tones. In each print, the shells are carefully placed on a sandy beach with a debossed silver wave that is scattered with shiny particles in the background. The artist’s signature, “ōju Hokkei sha,” or “drafted by Hokkei on commission,” indicates that the image was executed (sha) in response to the poetry club who issued the print. There are a few subtle ways to indicate artists’ different approaches to making designs and images; here, sha emphasizes Hokkei’s faithful representation of the objects, whereas the words “brushed” (hitsu) or “painted” (ga) are often used for freer and more meditative interpretations.

Medium: Surimono, shikishi-ban; polychrome woodblock print with gold and silver pigment and gauffrage
Dimensions: sheet: 8 1/4 × 7 3/16 in. (21 × 18.2 cm)
Credit Line: Promised gift of Virginia Shawan Drosten and Patrick Kenadjian, B.A. 1970
Loan number: ILE2017.30.97
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

Hayashi Tadamasa (1853–1906) Paris, France. Joan B. Mirviss (dealer), New York; sold to Virginia Shawan Drosten and Patrick Kenadjian, Koenigstein im Taunus, Germany, 1996 (on loan to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2017–present)

Bibliography

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), 98–100, no. 23, ill

Joan B. Mirviss and John T. Carpenter, Jewels of Japanese Printmaking: Surimono of the Bunka-Bunsei Era 1804–1830 (Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum of Art, 2000), 84–85, no. 36

Object copyright

No Copyright - United States

Additional information

Object/Work type

color woodcuts, surimono

Marks

Collector's seal: Hayashi Tadamasa (round, relief, red ink) (lower left)

Inscriptions

modern reading:\r\n\r\nsaku hana no\r\nharu no iroka mo\r\nutsuse-gai\r\nnami ni kasumi mo\r\ntatsu no miya hime\r\n-Gochikuen Chiyozumi\r\n\r\nkoyasu-gai\r\nhirôte shio no\r\nsaku eda ni\r\nnami yoku kata wo\r\nkaeru morobito\r\n-Asahi Machiyasu\r\n\r\nshio mo ima\r\nhikeru kasumi no\r\nhora-gai wa\r\nkumoi ni noboru\r\ntoki ya kinuran\r\n-Nankutsutei Yoshina\r\n\r\nEnglish Translation: \r\n\r\nPoem 1: Gochikuen Chiyozumi\r\n\r\n--All the allure of the \r\nflower-blooming spring,\r\nin the luster of the empty shells\r\nshifting in the waves beneath \r\nthe mists of the Dragon Princess. (confirmed 4-9-19)\r\n\r\n\r\nPoem 2: Asahi Machiyasu\r\n\r\n--Having gathered \r\ncowrie shells,\r\nwaves of people return\r\nalong the seashore\r\nwhere trees are abloom.\r\n\r\n\r\nPoem 3: Nankutsutei Yoshina\r\n\r\n--As the tide washes up\r\nthe trumpet shells\r\nfrom the caves of mist,\r\nperhaps now is the time to ascend\r\nto the palace of the clouds.\r\n\r\nTranslation of Poem 1 by AH (pending 5-15-18); Poems 2 & 3 by John T. Carpenter\r\nReference: Ota p.84 (cat. no. 36)\r\n\r\n\r\nGochikuen Chiyozumi\r\nThe sight and and scent of \r\nthe flower blossomed spring, \r\nall this allure is the hollow beauty of \r\nan empty shell, tossed by the waves\r\nin the mist where stands the Dragon Princess.\r\n\r\n\r\nAsahi Machiyasu\r\nHaving taken their pick of cowrie shells,\r\nin droves they all come in with the tide,\r\naway from the waves and back to the flowery boughs.\r\n\r\n\r\nNankutsutei Yoshina\r\nNow the tide is drawing in with the mist--\r\nhas the time come for this exalted company\r\nto go up to its place in the clouds,\r\nwith a fanfare of trumpet shells?\r\n\r\nTranslated AH 5/31\r\n\r\n***kasumi no hora refers to wherever the emperor is.\r\n\r\n\r\nさく花の　春のいろ香も　うつセ可ひ\r\n波に霞も　多つの宮姫　　　　　　　　呉竹園千代住\r\n\r\nこや春可ひ　飛ろふ天汐の　さく枝に\r\nなミよくか多を　かへる諸人　　　　　旭待安\r\n\r\n汐も今　ひ介る霞の　本ら可ひ盤\r\n雲井尓のほる　時やきぬらん　　　　　楠屈亭芳名\r\n\r\nSource: Ota p.84 (cat.no. 36) but here in hentaigana faithful to what are used. 5-5-18\r\nCf. Poem 2: "yoku" 避く　＝さける\r\n

Signed

Ōju Hokkei-ga; Sealed: Hayashi (collector's seal)

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