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Parody of the Tsutsu Izutsu Story from the Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari)


筒井筒
Chôbunsai Eishi (Japanese, 1756–1829)
Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi (Eijudō) (Japanese)
Japanese
Edo period
about 1793 (Kansei 5)

Medium/Technique Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions Vertical ôban triptych; 39.5 x 78.4 cm (15 9/16 x 30 7/8 in.)
Credit Line William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.14057, 11.14078, 11.14097
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsPrints

Catalogue Raisonné Someya, Chôbunsai Eishi mokuroku (Chiba, 2023), #156; Hizô Ukiyo-e taikan 9, Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels (1989), pl. 180; Ukiyo-e shûka 8 (1980), Eishi list, #77; Brandt, Hosoda Eishi (1977), fig. 204, list no. 140
DescriptionTriptych: 11.14057 (center), 11.14078 (left), 11.14097 (right)

MFA impressions: 11.14057VR (11.14057, 11.14078, 11.14097), 21.7574-6
Signed Eishi ga (on each sheet)
栄之画
Marks Censor's seal: kiwame
改印:極
InscriptionsPoems from Ise monogatari:
Right: Tsuki ya aran/ haru ya mukashi no haru naruran/ waga mi hitsotsu wa/ moto no mi ni shite (from Episode 4)
Center: Tsutsui tsu no/ izutsu ni kakeshi/ maro ga take/ suginikerashi na/ imo mizaru ma ni (from Episode 23)
Left: Kurabekoshi/ furiwakegami mo/ kata suginu/ kimi narazu shite/ tare ka agubeki (from Episode 23)
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.