Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Beauties of the Four Seasons

A full catalogue of the Ashmolean’s collection of Japanese bijinga (beautiful women) prints by Mitsuko Watanabe (published Oxford, 2005).

Beauties of the Four Seasons by Mitsuko Watanabe

Publications online: 54 objects

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Three women in front of Ryōgoku bridge

  • Literature notes

    The Ryōgoku bridge in Edo was a place well-known for its firework displays. The many tea shops around it made for a lively atmosphere. In the foreground, women are busily attending to their own activities. One woman is holding a parasol. Groups of people are walking across the bridge, including a high ranking samurai riding a horse, wearing a straw hat, and escorted by further samurai. In the background, boats are floating by in what is thought to be a hot summer’s day.
  • Details

    Associated place
    AsiaJapanHonshūKantōTōkyō prefecture Tōkyō (place of creation)
    AsiaJapanHonshūKantōTōkyō prefecture Tōkyō (place of publication)
    AsiaJapanHonshūKantōTōkyō prefecture Tōkyō (Ryōgoku bridge) (subject)
    Date
    late 18th century - early 19th century
    Artist/maker
    Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 - 1825) (designer)
    Associated people
    Nishimuraya Yohachi (c. 1751 - c. 1870) (publisher)
    Material and technique
    nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print, printed with water-based vegetable pigments
    Dimensions
    mount 55.3 x 32.1 cm (height x width)
    print 37 x 25.1 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by Mrs Allan and Mr and Mrs H. N. Spalding, 1952.
    Accession no.
    EAX.4151.a
  • Further reading

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 August-30 November 2005, Beauties of the Four Seasons, Mitsuko Watanabe, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005), no. 28 on p. 60, illus. p. 61

Glossary (2)

nishiki-e, vegetable pigments

  • nishiki-e

    Nishiki-e literally means 'brocade pictures' and refers to multi-coloured woodblock prints.

  • vegetable pigments

    Vegetable pigments were used to create coloured dyes for Japanese prints, paintings, and textiles. These pigments often faded over time due to the chemical reactions they underwent.

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Beauties of the Four Seasons by Mitsuko Watanabe

    Beauties of the Four Seasons

    The Ryōgoku bridge in Edo was a place well-known for its firework displays. The many tea shops around it made for a lively atmosphere. In the foreground, women are busily attending to their own activities. One woman is holding a parasol. Groups of people are walking across the bridge, including a high ranking samurai riding a horse, wearing a straw hat, and escorted by further samurai. In the background, boats are floating by in what is thought to be a hot summer’s day.
Notice

Object information may not accurately reflect the actual contents of the original publication, since our online objects contain current information held in our collections database. Click on 'buy this publication' to purchase printed versions of our online publications, where available, or contact the Jameel Study Centre to arrange access to books on our collections that are now out of print.

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