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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Elegant Flower Viewing

  • Literature notes

    A beauty with rolled-up sleeves is holding a kaeshi (pocket paper) in her mouth while she adjusts her kanzashi. Her kimono is of a bamboo leaf design with an area of peony flowers with three contrasting colours. In the background, ominaeshi (maiden flower) and kikyō (Japanese bellflower) are in bloom, which are both ‘seven flowers for autumn’. Hana-awase, its title, is a competition for the most beautiful flowers and also for exchanging poems with the theme of flowers. Here it clearly suggests a competition between beautiful women.
  • Details

    Associated place
    AsiaJapanHonshūKantōTōkyō prefecture Tōkyō (place of creation)
    AsiaJapanHonshūKantōTōkyō prefecture Tōkyō (place of publication)
    Date
    early - mid-19th century
    Artist/maker
    Kikukawa Eizan (1787 - 1867) (designer)
    Associated people
    Yamaguchi Tōbei (active c. 1805 - 1895) (publisher)
    Material and technique
    nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print, printed with water-based vegetable pigments
    Dimensions
    mount 55.6 x 40.5 cm (height x width)
    print 34.3 x 23.5 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.4751
  • Further reading

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 August-30 November 2005, Beauties of the Four Seasons, Mitsuko Watanabe, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005), no. 35 on p. 74, illus. p. 75

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

    A beauty with rolled-up sleeves is holding a kaeshi (pocket paper) in her mouth while she adjusts her kanzashi. Her kimono is of a bamboo leaf design with an area of peony flowers with three contrasting colours. In the background, ominaeshi (maiden flower) and kikyō (Japanese bellflower) are in bloom, which are both ‘seven flowers for autumn’. Hana-awase, its title, is a competition for the most beautiful flowers and also for exchanging poems with the theme of flowers. Here it clearly suggests a competition between beautiful women.
  • Beauties of the Four Seasons by Mitsuko Watanabe

    Beauties of the Four Seasons

    A beauty with rolled-up sleeves is holding a kaeshi (pocket paper) in her mouth while she adjusts her kanzashi. Her kimono is of a bamboo leaf design with an area of peony flowers with three contrasting colours. In the background, ominaeshi (maiden flower) and kikyō (Japanese bellflower) are in bloom, which are both ‘seven flowers for autumn’. Hana-awase, its title, is a competition for the most beautiful flowers and also for exchanging poems with the theme of flowers. Here it clearly suggests a competition between beautiful women.
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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