Image

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III)

The Broom Tree (Hahakigi)

Description

Maker

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786-1865, b. in Edo)
Hayashiya Shogoro (Japanese), publisher

Title

The Broom Tree (Hahakigi)
from the series Lingering Sentiments of a Late Genji Collection (Genji goshu yojo)
Genji goju yojo

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

1857, 11th month

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink, color

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan; Place Made: Tokyo

Dimensions

Vertical ōban: 37.2 x 25.6 cm (14 5/8 x 10 1/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription verso, bottom left in pencil: 10/Toyokuni; in a later hand, verso, bottom center: ICB47 y#1951

Signature: Toyokuni ga

Seals: Censor's seal | aratame | 1857, 11th month

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.1410

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Striking Chords
Music in *Ukiyo-E* Prints
Feb 05, 2022 – Jul 31, 2022

Label copy

Mitsuuji-an Edo-period version of the legendary prince Genji of the Heian period (794-1185)-is depicted here playing the flute. Mitsuuji plays to express his love and longing for a woman hidden behind the screen at right. The second print in this diptych depicts the lady.

Drawing on the 11th-century Tale of Genji, Ryutei Tanehiko (1783-1842) produced a literary parody that inspired Kunisada to create this work. It is enhanced with printed gold flakes to evoke Heian-period aesthetics.

Poets, Heroes, and Courtiers
Literary and Narrative Traditions in Japanese Prints
Sep 06, 2002 – Dec 01, 2002

Label copy

Prince Genji is the hero of the great early eleventh-century Japanese novel of courtly life, The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari), written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. From the late 1820s on, Kunisada designed variations of the Genji theme based upon an extensively reworked version of the text called “the rustic Genji.” This print is probably a later impression of a series that Kunisada designed toward the end of his life.

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川 国貞 (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786-1865, b. in Edo)
Hayashiya Shogoro (Japanese), publisher
The Broom Tree (Hahakigi); from the series Lingering Sentiments of a Late Genji Collection (Genji goshu yojo); Genji goju yojo, 1857, 11th month
Left side of a polychrome woodblock-printed diptych with embossing and metallic pigments
Vertical ōban: 37.2 x 25.6 cm (14 5/8 x 10 1/16 inches)
Bequest of Isaac C. Bates 13.1410

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