Description: nishiki-e; bijinga
Label Text: This print is signed at middle-left "Kikugawa Eizan hitsu" ('drawn by Kikugawa Eizan'). Above the artist's signature is the print's title, "Snow" ('yuki') written in the large yellow circle. The censor's circular seal, or 'kiwame,' is at lower-right, above the publisher's seal, which identifies this work's publisher as Izumiya Ichibei of the firm Kansendō, active from the late 1600s until the end of the nineteenth century. This series was published in the late 1810s; as such, the head of the firm at that time was probably Ichibei IV (died 1823). In addition, this version of Eizan's signature was used from ca. 1814–1817.
The term "setsugekka," literally meaning "snow, moon, and flower," is originally referenced in the poetry of Bai Juyi (772–846), who lived in T'ang Dynasty China, and whose work was popular in Japan; the phrase, which also famously appears in Lady Murasaki's "Tale of Genji," is meant to evoke the varied beauty of the four seasons.
Tags: women; figures; umbrellas; snow; kimonos; standing; landscapes Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+1994.127 |