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Edo, Snow on Narihira Bridge in Hongo, Courtesans of the Arimaya, Clamseller Yokichi and Onogawa Kisaburo, No. 41 from the series Snow, Moon, Flowers

 

Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Edo, Snow on Narihira Bridge in Hongo,

Courtesans of the Arimaya, Clamseller Yokichi

and Onogawa Kisaburo, No. 41

from the series Snow, Moon, Flowers

by Yōshū Chikanobu, 1885


IHL Cat. #385

About This Print

Source: Chikanobu: Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints, Bruce A. Coats, Hotei Publishing, 2006, p. 104.

Both scenes in this print are from the story Arima no neko. In the bottom portion of the print, "[t]he little boy Yokichi has heard that his sister Otaki, who was sold into prostitution, has committed suicide, and he comes to the Arimaya brothel to find out more information.

In the inset, "Onogawa Kisaburo fights off the monster cat, formerly the pet of Otaki," who has come to take revenge for his dead mistress.

The Series Setsugekka (Snow, Moon, Flowers)

Source: "Setsugekka: Snow, Moon, Flowers", Joshua S. Mostow, appearing in Chikanobu: Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints, Bruce A. Coats, Hotei Publishing, 2006, p. 83.

"Chikanobu’s fifty-print series Setsugekka [Snow, Moon, Flowers] was published between August 1884 and April 1886.  The term setsugekka / setsu getsu ka derives originally from a poem by the famous Tang-dynasty poet Bo Juyki (772-846), which was in turn included in the Heian-period anthology Wakan rōei shū:

Lute, poetry, wine – my friends
all have deserted me;
snow, moon, flowers – these seasons,
I most often think of you.

As can be seen from Bo’s usage, the phrase was a short-hand way of referring to the four seasons and their respective best features: the snow of winter, the autumn moon, and the spring cherry-blossoms."

Re-Issued in Crêped Version Ten Years Later by Different Publisher

The entire series was re-issued ten years later, in 1895, as crêpe prints (chirimen-e) by the publisher Matsuki Heikichi 松木平吉.

click on image to enlarge

Print Details

 IHL Catalog
 #385
 Title or Description Edo, Snow on Narihira Bridge in Honjo, Courtesans of the Arimaya, Clamseller Yokichi, and Onogawa Kisaburo, #41
江戸 本所業平橋の雪 有馬家奥方 蜆売与吉 小野川喜三郎  四十一
Edo, Honjo Narihirabashi no yuki, Arimaya no okata, Shijimi-uri Yokichi, Onogawa Kisaburo, yonjūichi
 Series Snow, Moon, Flowers 
 雪月花 Setsugekka 
 Artist Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912)
 Signature
Yōshū Chikanobu hitsu 楊洲周延
 Seal red toshidama seal (as shown above)
 Publication Date 1885 March 11 御届 明治十八年三月十一日 (as shown below)
 Publisher
Kobayashi Tetsujirō 小林鉄次郎 (firm name Maruya Tesujirō 丸屋銕次郎)
[Marks: pub. ref. 300; seal ref. similar to 26-139]
 Carver
Hori Yū 彫勇
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition good – red ink offsetting, original album backing, right margin irregularly trimmed where print was removed from album, upper right
 Genre ukiyo-e; monogatari-e
 Miscellaneous
Print number in series 41 四十一 appearing in lower right corner of image
 Format oban
 H x W Paper 
 13 7/8 x 9 1/2 in. (35.2 x 24.1 cm)
 H x W Image
 12 3/4 x 8 3/8 in. (32.4 x 21.3 cm)
 Literature 
 Chikanobu: Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints, Bruce A. Coats, Hotei Publishing, 2006, p. 104, pl. 93.
 Collections This Print
 Scripps College Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery 93.6.74; Waseda University Library Call No. 文庫30 B0301 creped version bound into book; Ritsumeikan Art Research Center ACNo. MM0634_026
last revision:
4/20/2020