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百種接分菊
Chrysanthemums of One Hundred Varieties Grafted Together (Hyakushu tsugiwake-giku)
百種接分菊
Japanese
Edo period
1845 (Kôka 2), 9th month
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Vertical ôban diptych; 37.1 x 50.2 cm (14 5/8 x 19 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.36489a-b
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
Displays of horticultural prowess enjoyed one of their periodic waves of popularity in the mid-1840s. An amazing chrysanthemum plant, with many different types of blossoms (each identified by a paper label) grafted to a single stem, is shown in full in these two sheets of an incomplete triptych. Originally there was a third sheet at the right showing additional spectators, with a text explaining that the plant was grown by the gardener Uekiya Imaemon.
Catalogue Raisonné
http://blog.livedoor.jp/misemono/archives/cat_50048967.html; Ôta Memorial Museum of Art, Edo engei hana zukushi (2009), #181; Suzuki et al., Utagawa Kuniyoshi ten (1996), #297; Suzuki 1992, #332
DescriptionLeft and center sheets of an incomplete triptych; title on right sheet.
Signed
Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga (on each sheet)
一勇斎国芳画
一勇斎国芳画
Marks
Censor's seal: Fu
No blockcutter's mark
改印：普
彫師：なし
No blockcutter's mark
改印：普
彫師：なし
ProvenanceBy 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850–d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 19, 2005)
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.