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「五方 間色 碧」
Sea Blue (Heki), from the series The In-between Colors of the Five Directions (Gohô kanshoku)
「五方 間色 碧」
Aoigaoka Keisei (Japanese, active 1820s–1830s)
Japanese
Edo period
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Shikishiban; 19.5 x 18.2 cm (7 11/16 x 7 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.20066
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
DescriptionIn East Asian fortune-telling, the traditional symbolic colors of the five directions are yellow (center), blue-green (east), white (west), red (south), and black (north). The in-between colors are green (between yellow and blue-green), blue (between blue-green and white), pink (or orange; between white and red), purple (between red and black), and brown (between black and yellow).
Signed
Keisei
渓栖
渓栖
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.
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.