A Modern Take on the Well Curb Episode of The Tales of Ise
Chōbunsai Eishi, A Modern Take on the Well Curb Episode of The Tales of Ise, 1791/1792, color woodblock print on paper; ōban benigirai nishiki-e; triptych, The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection, public domain, 32.263a-c
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- Title
A Modern Take on the Well Curb Episode of The Tales of Ise
- Related Titles
alternate: Tales of Ise: A Modern Take on the Well Curb Episode
original language: 見立筒井筒
- Artist
- Related People
publisher: Nishimura Yohachi (Japanese, active mid-19th century)
- Date
1791/1792
- Period
Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)
- Medium
color woodblock print on paper; ōban benigirai nishiki-e; triptych
- Catalogue Raisonné
Ukiyoe shūka v. 9, pl. 103-105
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
image/sheet: 14 7/8 in x 29 1/8 in (overall)
- Inscriptions & Markings
inscription: くらべこし ふりわけ髪も かた過ぎぬ 君ならすして たれかあぐへき, printed in black ink, left print, upper 1/4, within the block Transliteration (Translation): Kurabe koshi / furiwake kami mo / kata suginu / kimi narazushite / tare ka agubeki (The hair parted in the middle / That I measured against yours / Now hangs below my shoulders. / For whom shall it be put up, / If not for you?) Language: Japanese Description: In Tales of Ise, the chapter on The Well Curb (Tsutsu izutsu), this is the response of the young woman to the poem in the center sheet of the triptych.
inscription: 筒井つの 井筒にかけし まろかたけ 過にけらしな いもみざるまに, printed in black, center print, upper 1/4, within the block Transliteration (Translation): Tsutsu itsu no izutsu ni kakeshi maro ga take suginikerashi na imozaru ma ni (My height that we measured / At the well curb / Has, it seems, . Passed the old mark / Since last I saw you. [Translation by Helen C. McCullough]) Language: Japanese Description: Poem by the young man in Tales of Ise chapter on 'The Well Curb' (Tsutsu izutsu)
signature: 栄之画, printed in black ing, right sheet: right center; center sheet: left center; left sheet: left center Transliteration (Translation): Eishi ga (picture [by] Eishi) Language: Japanese
censor's mark: 極, printed in black ink, right sheet: lower left; center sheet: lower right; left sheet; lower center Translation: kiwame Language: Japanese
publisher's mark: [seal of Nishimuraya Yohachi] & 永壽版, printed in black ink; the characters within a square cartouche, on each sheet Transliteration (Translation): Eiju han (Published by Eiju) Language: Japanese Description: Nishimuraya Yohashi's firm name was Eijudô 永壽堂
inscription: 月や あらん 春や むかしの はる ならん 我身ひとつ もとのめにして, printed in black ink, right print, upper 1/4, within the block Transliteration (Translation): Tsuki ya aran[u] / haru ya mukashi no / haru naran[u] / waga mi hitotsu / moto no mi ni shite (Is that not the moon? And is the spring not the spring Of a year ago? This body of mine alone Remains as it was before.) Language: Japanese Description: A poem by Ariwara no Narihira which appears in Tales of Ise. Translation by Donald Keene.
- Collection Area
Asian Art; Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
Japanese Traditional Prints
- Object Type
relief print
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection
- Accession Number
32.263a-c
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
- Exhibitions
2005 Crowd Appeal: Impressions of Edo Japan Portland Art Museum