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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Chōfu Jewel River

  • Literature notes

    The theme of the Jewel Rivers was often chosen by classical poets during and after the Heian period. The subject became popular among ukiyo-e artists during the Edo period. This was a response to the building of the great aqueduct to supply fresh water from the Tamagawa for the city of Edo in the Musashi region in 1654. The six rivers comprise Tama River of Chōfu in Tokyo, Ide in Kyoto, Ogi in Shiga, Noda in Miyagi, Takano in Wakayama and Mishima in Osaka.

    This print is a mitate utilising a poem by Fujiwara no Teika. Harunobu illustrates a harmonious scene of a mother spreading clothes to dry, with her son holding a bucket and a fishing net, beside the Tama River in Chōfu on what is probably a warm day in autumn. A wooden barrel and a hammer for beating fabrics are depicted in the background. The boy’s garment has a tortoise-shell design which was a common motive especially for the children’s wear.

    Originally, both the mother’s and boy’s garments were light slate-brown in colour but this is somewhat faded in this print.
  • Details

    Series
    The Six Jewel Rivers
    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    Asia Japan (Tama River) (subject)
    Date
    1760 - 1770
    Artist/maker
    Suzuki Harunobu (1725 - 1770) (designer)
    Material and technique
    nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print, printed with water-based vegetable pigments
    Dimensions
    mount 55.7 x 40.6 cm (height x width)
    print 27.5 x 20.9 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Accession no.
    EAX.3954
  • Further reading

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 August-30 November 2005, Beauties of the Four Seasons, Mitsuko Watanabe, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005), no. 2 on p. 4, pp. xii & 47, illus. pp. xii & 5

Glossary (4)

mitate, mitate-e, nishiki-e, vegetable pigments

  • mitate

    Mitate, or riddle, is a form of visual and literary parody on a classical theme. It required prior knowledge in order to decipher it.

  • mitate-e

    Mitate-e, or riddle, is a form of visual and literary parody on a classical theme. It required prior knowledge in order to decipher it.

  • 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 theme of the Jewel Rivers was often chosen by classical poets during and after the Heian period. The subject became popular among ukiyo-e artists during the Edo period. This was a response to the building of the great aqueduct to supply fresh water from the Tamagawa for the city of Edo in the Musashi region in 1654. The six rivers comprise Tama River of Chōfu in Tokyo, Ide in Kyoto, Ogi in Shiga, Noda in Miyagi, Takano in Wakayama and Mishima in Osaka.

    This print is a mitate utilising a poem by Fujiwara no Teika. Harunobu illustrates a harmonious scene of a mother spreading clothes to dry, with her son holding a bucket and a fishing net, beside the Tama River in Chōfu on what is probably a warm day in autumn. A wooden barrel and a hammer for beating fabrics are depicted in the background. The boy’s garment has a tortoise-shell design which was a common motive especially for the children’s wear.

    Originally, both the mother’s and boy’s garments were light slate-brown in colour but this is somewhat faded in this print.
  • Beauties of the Four Seasons by Mitsuko Watanabe

    Beauties of the Four Seasons

    The theme of the Jewel Rivers was often chosen by classical poets during and after the Heian period. The subject became popular among ukiyo-e artists during the Edo period. This was a response to the building of the great aqueduct to supply fresh water from the Tamagawa for the city of Edo in the Musashi region in 1654. The six rivers comprise Tama River of Chōfu in Tokyo, Ide in Kyoto, Ogi in Shiga, Noda in Miyagi, Takano in Wakayama and Mishima in Osaka.

    This print is a mitate utilising a poem by Fujiwara no Teika. Harunobu illustrates a harmonious scene of a mother spreading clothes to dry, with her son holding a bucket and a fishing net, beside the Tama River in Chōfu on what is probably a warm day in autumn. A wooden barrel and a hammer for beating fabrics are depicted in the background. The boy’s garment has a tortoise-shell design which was a common motive especially for the children’s wear.

    Originally, both the mother’s and boy’s garments were light slate-brown in colour but this is somewhat faded in this print.
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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