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Sotoori-hime, one of the Three Gods of Japanese Poetry (Waka sanjin)


和歌三神 衣通姫
Yashima Gakutei (Japanese, 1786?–1868)
Japanese
Edo period
about 1828 (Bunsei 11)

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (surimono); ink, color, and metallic pigment on paper
Dimensions 20 x 13.3 cm (7 7/8 x 5 1/4 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.20480
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Forrer, Surimono (2013), #176
DescriptionAccording to Forrer, based on an earlier design of about 1826, from a series of the Three Gods of Japanese Poetry (Waka sanjin). However, the rays emanating from the figure also suggest an interpretation of the courtly lady as Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess.
Signed Gakutei
岳亭
InscriptionsPoem by Hakumôsha Manmori: Hikari sou/ kaze no sasoite/ ôzora no/ kumoi ni takaku/ noboru ito ... (?)
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.