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「風流美人菊畠」
Fashionable Beauties in a Chrysanthemum Garden (Fûryû bijin kikubatake)
「風流美人菊畠」
Japanese
Edo period
1810s
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Vertical ôban triptych; 38.9 x 79.4 cm (15 5/16 x 31 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number11.17852-4
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
The best-loved of all autumn flowers was the chrysanthemum, known today as the national flower of Japan. In the fall, nurseries and public gardens competed in displaying gorgeous chrysanthemums. Like the peonies of summer, the chrysanthemums were displayed in fenced, roofed beds. Especially fine blossoms were protected with paper collars so as to retain their petals as long as possible. In this triptych, Eizan has deliberately exaggerated the size of the blossoms to strengthen the implicit comparison between beautiful flowers and beautiful women.
Catalogue Raisonné
Kondô, ed., Eizan (JUM exh. cat., 1996), triptych list #87 (no photo)
DescriptionTriptych: 11.17852 (left), 11.17853 (center), 11.17854 (right)
Signed
Eizan hitsu (on each sheet)
英山筆
英山筆
Marks
Censor's seal: kiwame
改印：極
改印：極
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.