Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

Japanese Beauties With Umbrellas in the Snow Visit the Shinto Shrine

1844

Shichirigahama, Sagami Province. A beauty in the foreground waves to her young companions, who run towards her on the beach. The beauty at left wears a western-style golden ring. We ...

A beauty turns to admire the Kirifuri Waterfall in Nikko Province. She holds the handle of an umbrella and wears fashionable clothing that is beautifully printed. This series pairs f...

A courtesan in Heian period style looks over the prow of her watercraft, looking ahead through the famous torii of Miyajima (Itsukushima) Shrine. She will be dancing in the ceremonies of the annual festival held in Itsukushima in the sixth month of the lunar calendar. Note the ukiyoe style of the beauty and the water, and the Shijo style of the rendering of the torii and the shore. Her enormous traveling hat and veil are placed beside her. From the series "One Hundred Famous Views of the Moon...

“War Chronicles of Osaka” (Osaka gunki no uchi). Okubo Hikozaemon, raising his sword, protects the hidden Tokugawa shogun from the spear of Gorô Matabei Mototsugu in a moonlit fores...

New Year’s festivities are indicated by the flying kites as well as the two battledores tossing the shuttlecock that floats in the middle sky. Note that the women holding the battled...

Umewaka Shrine, from an untitled series of prints depicting Tokyo. A woman braces her umbrella against the rain and a man waits out the storm next to his jinriksha in this view of th...

In image of the Tokugawa family paying homage to Tosho-gu Shrine in Nikko. Tokyo: Matsuki Heikichi, 1896 Woodcut in ink with embossing and hand-coloring in watercolor on handmade m...

Kiyomizu Temple, Scenes of Famous Places along Tôkaidô Road - Woodblock on Paper Full Title: Kyoto: Kiyomizu Temple (Kyô Kiyomizudera), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along...

"Enshoku Sanju-roku Kasen" (Thirty-six Enchanting Flowers) Woodblock on paper Elegant woodblock print by Toyohara Kunuchika (Japanese, 1835-1900). Three women are in talking with each other inside, while a man waits outside holding a bag of some kind. The colors in this piece are rich and saturated, primarily blues, greens, and purple. Mat size: 16"H x 20"W Paper size: 14.75"H x 9.88"W Born in 1835, Toyohara Kunichika grew up in the Kyobashi district of Edo in the midst of merchants and artisans. In 1848, at age 13, he was accepted as an apprentice into the studio of Utagawa Kunisada I...

The Battle of Dan-no-ura in Yashima, Nagato Province in the First Year of the Bunji Era (1185) Tokyo c. 1830 Woodblock print (nishiki-e) with ink and hand-coloring in watercolor on handmade mulberry paper, 14 7/16 x 9 15/16 inches (367 x 252 mm), ōban tate-e, the full sheet. In good condition with some handling creases. Colors are fresh and extremely vibrant. The right panel from the triptych by Yoshitora depicting one of Japan's most storied naval battles. An impression of this work may be found in the permanent collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art. The great naval battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185 was the final climax in a long series of bitter wars between two powerful families in feudal Japan...

Mitate of a Daimyo's Procession Crossing Ryogoku Bridge - Woodblock Print Woodblock print of a procession by Keisai Eisen (Japanese, 1790–1848). Terrific triptych of a procession of...

"Various Himochi" Wagashi Festival Japanese Woodblock Print by Utagawa Toyokuni Rare oversized early 19th century 5-tiered woodblock by Utagawa Ichiyosai Toyokuni, (Japan, 1769-1825), a Japanese lord and wife oversee a sekku festival of food, music, and dolls or toys. '"oshi" is the first day of “Mi (Snake)” in the third month of the lunar calendar. This day, known in modern Japan as the Girls' Festival, originated in China as a form of purification ceremony in which water and drinking peach blossom wine were used to drive away evil. Many kinds of hishi-mochi appear in this picture of hina ningyo (dolls associated with Hinamatsuri, or the Girl’s Day) from Omochae. The custom of eating special dishes at events throughout the year and at milestones in people's lives has existed since ancient times. This paragraph specifically focuses on the annual event called sekku, and life events that involve eating sweets. Joshi is the first day of “Mi (Snake)” in the third month of the lunar calendar. This day, known in modern Japan as the Girls' Festival, originated in China as a form of purification ceremony in which water and drinking peach blossom wine were used to drive away evil. According to the Keiso saijiki, in ancient China, on the third day of the third lunar month, people ate “ryuzetsuhan,” which is the juice of gogyo (Jersey cudweed) mixed with rice flour and nectar. In Japan, there is a record in the Heian period history book Nihon Montoku tenno jitsuroku [839-5] that it was an annual event to make kusamochi using gogyo on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, which may have been influenced by Chinese customs. The tradition of eating kusamochi on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar continued after that. By the Edo period, however, hishimochi had come to be used as a sweet to serve on the third day of the third month. A picture of a hishimochi is included in the Morisada manko , which we mentioned in Part 1. According to it, hishimochi in the Edo period were often three layers of green-white-green instead of the now common red-white-green. However, it is possible to see from our collection that not all hishimochi were made in this way. Omochae published in 1857, is a good example. Omochae is a type of ukiyoe print...