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Wisdom (Chi), from the series The Five Virtues (Gojô)


五常 「智」
Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725–1770)
Japanese
Edo period
1767 (Meiwa 4), 9th month

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical chûban; 27.3 x 20 cm (10 3/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.19456
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné MFA, Suzuki Harunobu (exh. cat., 2017), #92; Waterhouse, The Harunobu Decade (2013), #192; Chiba 2002, #168 (this impression); Ukiyo-e shûka 4 (1979), list #290.4, and supp. 1 (1982), pl. 255
DescriptionMFA impressions: 11.19456, 21.4973
Signed Harunobu ga
春信画
InscriptionsPoem: Michi shi aru/ yo ni umarenaba/ onozukara/ hitotsu wo shiraba/ tô mo shiranan
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.