No. 32, Branch of Plum (Translation)
Fifty-Four Modern Feelings (Series Title)
豐原国周 現時五十四情 第三十二号：梅枝 明治时代 木版畫 (Primary Title)
Fifty-Four Modern Feelings (Matched with the Fifty-Four Chapters of Genji): Chapter 32, Umegae (Former Title)
Toyohara Kunichika 豐原國周, Japanese, 1835 - 1900 (Artist)
In this scene, a woman sits on mats before a sunken hearth surrounded with tea ceremony implements, as she ladles hot water from a kettle. Prints of the Meiji period (1868-1912) tend to feature bright dyes and more contemporary subjects, this particular example “modernizing” Chapter 32 from the 11th-century novel the Tale of Genji, in which court women compete to create a perfume scent. The winning submission, a plum-branch blend, is perhaps referenced in the flowers throughout this print.
Meiji period (1868-1912)
豊原国周筆 Toyohara Kunichika hitsu
Artist's seal: red circle after signature
Titles and waka poems at upper right:
現時五十四情 第三十二号
梅枝 「花の香は散りにし枝にとまらねど
うつらむ袖に浅くしまめや」
Date, publisher on left margin: 明治 年 月 日 出版人 武川清吉 [Takekawa Seikichi] 雕銀
Verso: "475"
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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