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唐美人
Chinese Beauty
唐美人
Totoya Hokkei (Japanese, 1780–1850)
Japanese
Edo period
mid 1820s
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Shikishiban; 20.5 x 18.2 cm (8 1/16 x 7 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Jared K. Morse in memory of Charles J. Morse
Accession Number53.2726
OUT ON LOAN
On display at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, September 21, 2024 – January 5, 2025
On display at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, September 21, 2024 – January 5, 2025
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
The subject of this print is somewhat mysterious. The “spring wind” mentioned in the poem blows through a Chinese garden decorated with a scenic rock, where a beautiful woman in elaborate Chinese-style clothing sits on a lacquered chair looking into a magnifying mirror. The mirror may be a magical one from a still-unidentified story, or a depiction of the optical marvels believed to be available in foreign countries.
Catalogue Raisonné
Keyes, Surimono, Privately Published Japanese Prints in the Spencer Museum of Art, cat. no. 69
Signed
Hokkei
北渓
北渓
InscriptionsPoem by Shûyôtei Hyakka
Provenance1953, gift of Mrs. Jared K. Morse to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 10, 1953)