Collections Database

Description:
nishiki-e; egoyomi

Label Text:
This print is signed at lower-left "Eisen ga" ('drawn by Eisen'). The title of the print and series are written at top-right. The full twelve months of the series are held by the Edo Tokyo Museum (acc. no. 94200038–94200049). The mark of publisher Aritaya Seiemon of the firm Yūeidō is faintly visibly at middle-right in white, hidden in the yellow structure behind the children. This is likely a visual pun on behalf of Eisen, who collabroated with the publisher during the late 1830s and early 1840s. Around 1842, Aritaya Seiemon employed a newly designed seal: the kanji "chō" or "nagai" within four squared lines. The character means "long" and by the way Eisen seems to have hidden the seal within the various prints of the "Four Seasons of Play," it is likely that it also functions as a marker of the longer intercalary months, blending the publisher's trademark with the functional markings of an egoyomi-e, or hidden calendar picture.

Tags:
children; play; playgrounds; flowers; spring

Subjects:
Play; Children; Flowers; Spring

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2005.287

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.