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牡丹見物
Women at a Peony Show
牡丹見物
Japanese
Edo period
1780s (Tenmei era)
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Vertical ôban; 38.8 x 26.7 cm (15 1/4 x 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.25136
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
In midsummer, nurseries and flower shows featured spectacular displays of large, colorful tree peonies. On the main street of the Yoshiwara, peonies bushes replaced the cherry trees. The fragile blossoms were carefully protested from excessive sun and rain by overhead canopies—and from overenthusiastic spectators by fenced beds. One of the three ladies visiting this peony exhibit holds a chin dog (Japanese spaniel), a breed that was originally imported from China but, like the peony, had become popular in Japan as well.
Catalogue Raisonné
Hizô Ukiyo-e taikan/Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections 9, Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels (1989), pl. 131 (two sheets)
DescriptionOne sheet of incomplete triptych.
MFA impressions: 11.25136, 21.5927
MFA impressions: 11.25136, 21.5927
Signed
Shunchô ga
春潮画
春潮画
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.