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
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- 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
- 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
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.
- Exhibitions
2011 The Artist's Touch, The Craftsman's Hand: Three Centuries of Japanese Prints from the Portland Art Museum Portland Art Museum
2018 Suzuki Harunobu and the Culture of Color Portland Art Museum