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Young Woman Holding Cat and Young Man Holding Mouse


猫を抱く美人と鼠を持つ若衆
Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725–1770)
Japanese
Edo period
about 1767–68 (Meiwa 4–5)

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical chûban; 28.2 x 21 cm (11 1/8 x 8 1/4 in.)
Credit Line Nellie Parney Carter Collection—Bequest of Nellie Parney Carter
Accession Number34.351
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Two teenagers and their pets eye each other with interest. Harunobu hints that the demure-looking young lady may be more aggressive than she seems, since her expression as she looks at the young man is very similar to her cat’s predatory gaze at the little mouse in his hand.

Catalogue Raisonné MFA, Suzuki Harunobu (exh. cat., 2017), #78; Waterhouse, The Harunobu Decade (2013), #275; Ukiyo-e shûka 4 (1979), list #573, and supp. 1 (1982), pl. 290
Signed Unsigned
無款
Provenance1934, bequest of Nellie Parney Carter to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 4, 1934)