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

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

Tales in the Round: Manjū Netsuke and Japanese Woodblock Prints

(from 30th Apr until 22nd Sep 2013)

Discover dramatic episodes from Japanese culture in these exquisitely carved objects and prints.

Detail of a manju netsuke depicting Minamoto Yoshitsune practising martial arts with a tengu demon,
The Minister Ariwara no Narihirafront

© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

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The Minister Ariwara no Narihira

  • Description

    Ariwara no Narihira (AD 825-880), one of the Six Immortals of Poetry (rokkasen), was thought to be the hero of the Tales of Ise. Here, he and his attendants admire the Tatsuta river near Kyoto, on whose pale blue sparkling surface float fallen, scarlet maple leaves. Overcome with the beauty of this sight, Narihira is said to have composed a poem, having been reminded of a screen depicting bright red maple leaves upon a blue tie-dyed cloth which belonged to one of his lovers. The lover subsequently became consort to the emperor. Ariwara no Narihira is also depicted on the netsuke EA2001.106.

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each
    Associated place
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of creation)
    Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kantō › Tōkyō prefecture › Tōkyō (place of publication)
    Asia › Japan (Tatsuta River) (subject)
    Date
    published 1840 - 1842
    Artist/maker
    Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861) (designer)
    Ariwara no Narihira (AD 825 - 880) (author)
    Associated people
    Ebisu (active c. 1840s) (publisher)
    Ariwara no Narihira (AD 825 - 880) (subject)
    Material and technique
    nishiki-e (multi-block) woodblock print, with bokashi (tonal gradation)
    Dimensions
    mount 55.4 x 40.3 cm (height x width)
    sheet 36.9 x 25.6 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    processed material › paper
    Technique index
    printed › relief print › woodcut › colour woodcut
    Object type index
    visual representation › print
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by George Grigs, Miss Elizabeth Grigs, and Miss Susan Messer, in memory of Derick Grigs, 1971.
    Accession no.
    EA1971.48

  • Further reading

    London: Royal Academy of Arts, 21 March-7 June 2009, and New York: Japan Society, 12 March-13 June 2012, Kuniyoshi: From the Arthur R. Miller Collection, Timothy Clark. ed. (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2009), no. 92, p. 204, illus. p. 204

Glossary (2)

netsuke, nishiki-e

  • netsuke

    The netsuke is a form of toggle that was used to secure personal items suspended on cords from the kimono sash. These items included purses, medicine cases or tobacco paraphernalia.

  • nishiki-e

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

Past Exhibition

see (1)

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.

 

Notice

Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.

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