Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849)
A young woman watering a flower arrangement displayed in an alcove (tokonoma), 1798
Woodblock print, surimono, calendar print (egoyomi/ daisho)
Signed: 'Sori ga' (Pictured by Sori)
Privately issued in 1798 (Kansei 10)
Hanging in the tokonoma is a hanging scroll depicting an ink painting of a horse - alluding to the year of the horse, 1798
Signed: 'Sori ga' (Pictured by Sori)
Privately issued in 1798 (Kansei 10)
Hanging in the tokonoma is a hanging scroll depicting an ink painting of a horse - alluding to the year of the horse, 1798
Horizontal kokonotsugiriban:
13.8 x 18.5 cm. (5 ⅜ x 7 ¼ in.)
13.8 x 18.5 cm. (5 ⅜ x 7 ¼ in.)
Fine impression and colour, slight soiling at lower left section and one minute wormhole in upper left section. The reverse with traces of adhesive to edges and remnants of mounting tape at top corners.
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An elegant young woman is watering a New Year flower arrangement of red plum blossoms and adonis - the scissors in a tray beside her indicate that she has just...
An elegant young woman is watering a New Year flower arrangement of red plum blossoms and adonis - the scissors in a tray beside her indicate that she has just finished the arrangement. Hanging above her is another ikebana arrangement of willow and camellia in a cut-bamboo vase.
This calendar print is rich with allusions relating to the year of the horse. The inscription at the far left reads "First Spring of the year of the Horse" (牛のはつ春) and a hanging scroll depicting a horse hangs in the alcove (tokonoma). The signature on the hanging scroll begins with the date Kansei 10... (寛政十) - 1798. Furthermore, the body of the horse itself is made up of brushstrokes showing the long months of the year (the concealed characters are 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 12).
Like the previous surimono (depicting a court lady) and following surimono (depicting a traveller and horse) also by Hokusai and issued the same year of the horse (1798), this print bears the inscription at the far left "First Spring of the year of the Horse" (牛のはつ春), indicating these three surimono could be part of a series or set distributed by the same kyoka group from Asakusa. All three surimono also feature kyoka poems by Asakusa-an (Asakusa no Ichihito (1755-1821).
Dr. Gerhard Pulverer is a German medical researcher who worked at the University of Cologne. He bought his first Japanese woodblock prints in Kyoto in the 1970s while visiting Japan for a scientific conference. For more than thirty years, he and his wife Rosemarie travelled the world assembling a large collection woodblock prints and Japanese illustrated books (ehon). In forming the collection, he drew on the advice of highly regarded experts including Jack Hillier, C.H. Mitchell, Tim Clark and Ellis Tinios.
In 2007 the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC purchased the illustrated book collection. It is today regarded as one of the most outstanding and comprehensive collections of Japanese illustrated books outside Japan.
For an insightful interview with the collector by Ellis Tinios (on behalf of the Smithsonian National Museum of Art), go to: https://pulverer.si.edu/node/186
This calendar print is rich with allusions relating to the year of the horse. The inscription at the far left reads "First Spring of the year of the Horse" (牛のはつ春) and a hanging scroll depicting a horse hangs in the alcove (tokonoma). The signature on the hanging scroll begins with the date Kansei 10... (寛政十) - 1798. Furthermore, the body of the horse itself is made up of brushstrokes showing the long months of the year (the concealed characters are 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 12).
Like the previous surimono (depicting a court lady) and following surimono (depicting a traveller and horse) also by Hokusai and issued the same year of the horse (1798), this print bears the inscription at the far left "First Spring of the year of the Horse" (牛のはつ春), indicating these three surimono could be part of a series or set distributed by the same kyoka group from Asakusa. All three surimono also feature kyoka poems by Asakusa-an (Asakusa no Ichihito (1755-1821).
Dr. Gerhard Pulverer is a German medical researcher who worked at the University of Cologne. He bought his first Japanese woodblock prints in Kyoto in the 1970s while visiting Japan for a scientific conference. For more than thirty years, he and his wife Rosemarie travelled the world assembling a large collection woodblock prints and Japanese illustrated books (ehon). In forming the collection, he drew on the advice of highly regarded experts including Jack Hillier, C.H. Mitchell, Tim Clark and Ellis Tinios.
In 2007 the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC purchased the illustrated book collection. It is today regarded as one of the most outstanding and comprehensive collections of Japanese illustrated books outside Japan.
For an insightful interview with the collector by Ellis Tinios (on behalf of the Smithsonian National Museum of Art), go to: https://pulverer.si.edu/node/186
Provenance
Dr. Gerhard Pulverer (b. 1930)Exhibitions
This print was exhibited in:'Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e from the Pulverer Collection' (Doitsu Puruvera korekushon ukiyo-e hanga meihinten), exhibited at the following venues:
- Matsuzakaya Department Store, Osaka, 27th December 1990 - 8th January 1991
- Matsuzakaya Department Store, Ginza, 24th - 29th January 1991
Publications
This print was published:Narazaki Muneshige, ed., Hizo ukiyo-e taikan, Puruvera korekushon [Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in Western Collections: The Pulverer Collection] (Tokyo, 1990), no. 87.
Doitsu Puruvera korekushon ukiyo-e hanga meihinten [Masterpieces of Ukiyo-e from the Pulverer Collection] (Tokyo, 1990), p.65, no. 2-28.