X
MOV File
Online Collections

The Faithful Wife, from the Kawachigoe Episode of The Tales of Ise: Calendar Print for 1765


Suzuki Harunobu, The Faithful Wife, from the Kawachigoe Episode of The Tales of Ise: Calendar Print for 1765, 1765, color woodblock print with embossing on paper; chūban nishiki-e; right sheet of a diptych, The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection, public domain, 32.68

This work is not currently on view.

Save to My Collection
Facebook Twitter
Details
Title

The Faithful Wife, from the Kawachigoe Episode of The Tales of Ise: Calendar Print for 1765

Related Titles

alternate; original language: 見立伊勢物語 河内越

alternate; translated: Mitate of Kawachi-goe, from The Tales of Ise

alternate; transliterated: Mitate Ise Monogatari: Kawachi-goe

catalog entry: The faithful wife, from the Kawachigoe episode of The Tales of Ise: Calendar print for 1765

Artist

Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725?–1770)

Date

1765

Period

Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)

Medium

color woodblock print with embossing on paper; chūban nishiki-e; right sheet of a diptych

State

first state

Catalogue Raisonné

Chiba 2002, 42; Waterhouse 2013, 61-62

Dimensions (H x W x D)

image/sheet: 10 3/4 in x 7 13/16 in

Inscriptions & Markings

inscription: 小 正 四 七 九 十一 十二, printed [in reserve], center [hidden within design on furisode (long sleeves)] Transliteration (Translation): ko: shō, yon, shichi, ku, jūichi, jūni (small [short months]: first, fourth, seventh, ninth, eleventh, twelfth) Language: Japanese Description: Numerals indicating the short months of the lunar calendar for the year 1765.

inscription: 明和二乙酉大, printed in black, center [within obi] Transliteration (Translation): Meiwa ni kinoto tori dai (Meiwa 2 [1765], year of the bird, large) Language: Japanese

seal: 露濃, printed in red relief, lower left Transliteration: Ronō Language: Japanese Description: Seal of patron/amateur; the name Ronō appears as a seal on at least one other calendar print from 1765.

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

32.68

Copyright

public domain

Terms

chuban

diptychs

Edo

embossing

Japanese woodblock prints

nishiki-e

relief printing

relief prints

The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection

woodcuts

Description

For this calendar print, Harunobu drew on The Tales of Ise, a tenth-century literary classic. In this episode, a man set out to visit his mistress, but then worried that his wife was entertaining a lover in his absence. He hid behind a fence to watch, and at nightfall his wife stepped out on the veranda—alone. Gazing wistfully at the moon, she recited a poem of concern for his safety. He realized the error of his ways and was faithful to her thereafter. With utmost delicacy, Harunobu captures the poignant moment when she has just opened the sliding doors. The shadow of her robe on the screen, cast by an unseen lantern inside the room, subtly indicates the evening hour. The calendrical clues are hidden in the design of her garments.

Related Artworks
Media
IMLS logoNEA logoNEH logo

The Portland Art Museum’s Online Collections site is brought to you thanks to support provided by the State of Oregon through its second Culture, History, Arts, Movies, and Preservation funding program and generous awards from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts.