Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849)
Poem by Kiyowara no Fukayabu, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki), circa 1835–36
Woodblock print
Signed: 'Saki no Hokusai Manji'
Publisher: Isaya Sanjiro (Eijudo)
Censor's seal: 'kiwame' (approved)
(Publisher and censor seal present at lower right, partially obscured by black bokashi)
Signed: 'Saki no Hokusai Manji'
Publisher: Isaya Sanjiro (Eijudo)
Censor's seal: 'kiwame' (approved)
(Publisher and censor seal present at lower right, partially obscured by black bokashi)
Horizontal oban:
25.3 x 36.3 cm. (10 x 14 ¼ in.)
25.3 x 36.3 cm. (10 x 14 ¼ in.)
Good impression, generally good colour, slight fading of red, slight toning, small wormholes have been restored in the dark area of water in the lower foreground, and a few small wormholes restored elsewhere, minute nicks to edges, the reverse top edge with traces left from previous mounting.
£ 9,800.00
Summer evenings in Edo were a time for boating on the Sumida river. Visitors aboard the large pleasure boat (with the name Kawa-ichimaru) at the left of this scene enjoy...
Summer evenings in Edo were a time for boating on the Sumida river. Visitors aboard the large pleasure boat (with the name Kawa-ichimaru) at the left of this scene enjoy sake on a hot summer's night. To the right is a smaller pleasure boat in which a group of people can be seen enjoying a meal. Approaching them is a floating vendor offering grilled fish and fresh watermelon.
The poem by the early tenth century poet Kiyohara no Fukayabu (who in Hokusai's print is presumably the pole-man who seems to be searching for the moon in the sky), has been translated by The MET as follows:
Natsu no yo wa
mada yohi nagara
akenuru no
kumo no izu ko ni
tsuki ya doruran
A summer's night in twilight still barely begun
the moon must be somewhere awake, too,
in amongst the clouds.
See: https://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/60013040
Another impression is in the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number, 11.30183, go to: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/226274
The poem by the early tenth century poet Kiyohara no Fukayabu (who in Hokusai's print is presumably the pole-man who seems to be searching for the moon in the sky), has been translated by The MET as follows:
Natsu no yo wa
mada yohi nagara
akenuru no
kumo no izu ko ni
tsuki ya doruran
A summer's night in twilight still barely begun
the moon must be somewhere awake, too,
in amongst the clouds.
See: https://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/60013040
Another impression is in the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number, 11.30183, go to: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/226274