Still Life with Drums Artist: Senryū (Japanese, active ca. 1825–50)

ca. 1840

Asian Art

泉龍 でんでん太鼓他 江戸時代


The majority of surimono from the 1820s and 1830s are of the almost-square shikishi-ban format, most often commissioned by poetry clubs and typically featuring thirty-one-syllable waka poems. This surimono—with a date of about 1840, which makes it the latest on display—has a wider format and includes haiku rather than waka. Neither the artist, Senryū, nor any of the five poets (the last two poems were written by the same person) are identified. The imagery of the print is also unusual. The colorful and varied designs of the two percussion instruments appear to be of Chinese origin. The cloth behind the instruments, on the other hand, is so-called sarasa, or chintz, a block-printed, dyed cotton textile that could be Indian in origin. Foreign elements in the art of surimono are rare and come as an enriching surprise.

Medium

Surimono, horizontal chū-ban; polychrome woodblock print with brass and silver pigment and light gauffrage

Dimensions

sheet: 6 7/8 × 9 7/16 in. (17.4 × 24 cm)

Credit Line

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

Accession Number

2020.54.4

Geography
Culture
Period

Edo period (1615–1868)

Classification
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

Provenance

Joan B. Mirviss (dealer), New York; sold to Virginia Shawan Drosten and Patrick Kenadjian, Koenigstein im Taunus, Germany, 1980 (on loan to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2017–2020); given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2020
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), 161–63, no. 44, ill
Object copyright
Additional information

Object/Work type

color woodcuts, still lifes, surimono

Inscriptions

None of the poets are on the JC list and even the names' reading are unconfirmed\r\n\r\nChōsa:\r\nWhat luck! -- the New Year's players! \r\nJust sitting in place with wine, \r\nwe are taken on a trip.\r\n\r\n\r\nKeryū:\r\nBright young grasses -- \r\na lofty banner \r\ndown Mount Mikami.\r\n\r\n\r\nSaritsu:\r\nA spring warbler -- \r\nto complete the mountain scenery \r\nbefore our eyes.\r\n\r\n\r\nFuji:\r\nAt the pheasant grounds,\r\nhere it cries \r\nbut there it goes.\r\n\r\n\r\nBunga: \r\n"New Year's Celebration"\r\nI shall make you bloom with\r\nlaughter right where I sit, \r\nfortunegrass.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Same [i.e. Bunga]:\r\n"New Year's First Poem of Celebration"\r\nThe whitewashed wall's,\r\nglare is cut\r\nby the willow.\r\n\r\nArtist: 泉龍 Senryū\r\n\r\nNone of the poets verified.\r\n\r\nPoem 1:  鼎左 Teisa (Chōsa?)\r\n\r\n萬さ以や 腰可け酒も 旅め可須\r\n(萬歳や 腰掛酒も 旅めかす)\r\nmanzai ya/ koshikake zake mo/ tabi mekasu\r\n\r\n\r\nPoem 2: 卦龍 Keryū\r\n\r\n若草や 乃ほりと高起 三上山\r\n(若草や 幟と高き 三上山)\r\nwakakusa ya/ nobori to takaki/ Mikamiyama\r\n\r\n\r\nPoem 3: 左栗 Saritsu\r\n\r\nうくひ寸や 眼さきの山耳 介しきそふ\r\n(鴬や 目先の山に 景色添う)\r\nuguisu ya/ mesaki no yama ni/ keshiki sou\r\n\r\n\r\nPoem 4: 不志 Fuji\r\n\r\n雉子処 聲と姿ハ ふ多處\r\n(きじどころ 声と姿は 二所)\r\nkiji dokoro/ koe to sugata wa/ futa dokoro\r\n\r\n\r\nPoem 5: 文賀 Bunga\r\n\r\n 歳旦 Saitan (New Year's Celebration)\r\n膝もとて 笑ハして見ん 福寿草\r\n(膝元で 笑わしてみん 福寿草)\r\nhizamoto de/ warawashi te min/ fukujusō\r\n\r\n\r\nPoem 6: 同 The same as the above.\r\n 春興 Shunkyō (New Year's first Poem of Celebration)\r\n白壁乃 まハゆさを消須 柳可那\r\n(白壁の まばゆさを消す 柳かな)\r\nshirakabe no/ mabayusa wo kesu/ yanagi kana\r\n\r\n\r\n

Signed

Senryū (but unknown otherwise)

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