Shibata Zeshin
Japanese, 1807-1891
Bamboo Poetry Sheet
INV-4373
Shibata Zeshin
Japanese, 1807-1891fall 1860
Bamboo Poetry Sheet
Shibata Zeshin Japanese, 1807-1891 →Japanese (culture or style)woodblock printprint
Date
fall 1860
Medium
Color woodblock print; surimono
Dimensions
57 × 43 cm (22 1/2 × 16 15/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Charles H. Mitchell Collection unrestricted gift
This print is an example of the many large-scale surimono that Shibata Zeshin created during the Meiji period (1868–1912). These differ from the smaller surimono in this exhibition in several ways. Smaller surimono usually displayed poetry made by a small group of poets that lived in the same location and belonged to the same group. They also carried a strong seasonal component and were typically created for a specific time of year, such as the New Year, or a significant date for the group, such as a retirement, birthday, or important visitor from afar.
The larger prints retained this seasonal component but took on stronger commemorative roles by including bigger groups of people, sometimes unrelated to the poetry club. In this print, the host is Tchikubai, possibly a poetry teacher with a sizable group of students.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
