Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿) (artist ca 1753 – 1806)
Mutsu Province (陸奥) from the series Fashionable Six Jewel Rivers (Fūryū Mu Tamagawa - 風流六玉川) - one panel of a hexaptych
ca 1804
9.75 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Utamaro hitsu (哥麿筆)
Publisher: Izumiya Ichibei (Marks 180)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Pushkin Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Public Domain Museum of Art
Honolulu Museum of Art
Legion of Honor, San Francisco
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Ōmi Province
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - 5 of the 6 sheets in great conditon
Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire This print is one of six, all of which can be placed side-by-side to form a single composition. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has a full set representing Yamashiro, Ōmi, Settsu, Musashi, Mutsu and Kii provinces. (See related links above to view these prints.)
Although not specifically spelled out here, it would be instantly recognizable to an educated Utamaro contemporary, that this represents the Chidori no Tamagawa (千鳥の玉川) in Mutsu province.
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"The Jewel Rivers first appeared as a verse theme in the eighth-century Manyoshii."
Quote from Sebastian Izzard.
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Illustrated
1) in a small black and white reproduction in Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections 10: Museo d'Arte Genoa, I, supervised by Muneshige Narazaki, p. 256.
2) in a small black and white reproduction in Catalogue of Japanese colour prints, Surimono, Books & Original Drawings, Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, May/June 1920, pl. 10, #80.
Izumiya Ichibei (和泉屋市兵衛) (publisher)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)
boshi-e (母子絵) (genre)