X
MOV File
Online Collections

Sanseki (The Three Evening Poems): Teika, Jakuren, and Saigyō


Suzuki Harunobu, Sanseki (The Three Evening Poems): Teika, Jakuren, and Saigyō, ca. 1770, color woodblock print on paper; yoko ōban nishiki-e, The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection, public domain, 32.77

This work is not currently on view.

Save to My Collection
Facebook Twitter
Details
Title

Sanseki (The Three Evening Poems): Teika, Jakuren, and Saigyō

Related Titles

catalog entry: An updated version of The "Three Evening" Poems: Courtesans as the poets Teika, Jakuren, and Saigyō

original language: 三夕 定家・寂蓮・西行

transliterated: Sanseki: Teika, Jakuren, Saigyō

Artist

Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725?–1770)

Date

ca. 1770

Period

Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)

Medium

color woodblock print on paper; yoko ōban nishiki-e

Edition

no other known impressions

Catalogue Raisonné

Ukiyoe shūka v. 9, pl. 86

Dimensions (H x W x D)

image/sheet: 10 1/4 in x 15 3/8 in

Inscriptions & Markings

publisher's mark: 丸甚, printed in black relief within square, lower left Transliteration (Translation): Marujin ([seal of the publisher Maruya Jinpachi]) Language: Japanese

inscription: 西行 // 心なき / 身にもあわれハ / しられけり / 鴫たつ沢の / 秋の夕くれ, printed in black within cloud shaped register, upper left Transliteration (Translation): Saigyō // Kororo naki / mi ni mo aware wa / shirarekeri / shigi tatsu sawa no / aki no yūgure (Saigyō: Even one who has shed all passions / would be moved / by evanescent beauty: / snipes rising from a marsh / on an autumn evening) Language: Japanese

inscription: 寂蓮 // さひしさハ / そのいろとしも / なかりけり / 槙たつ山の / 秋の夕暮, printed in black within cloud shaped register, upper middle Transliteration (Translation): Jakuren // Sabishisa wa / sono iro to shimo / nakarikeri / maki tatsu yama no / aki no yūgure (Jakuren: Loneliness / is not / any particular color— / A mountain of black pines / on an autumn evening) Language: Japanese

inscription: 定家 // みわたせは / 花も紅葉も / なかりけり / 浦の苫やの / 秋の夕くれ, printed in black within cloud shaped register, upper right Transliteration (Translation): Teika // Miwataseba / hana mo momiji mo / nakarikeri / ura no tomaya no / aki no yūgure (Teika: As far as the eye can see, / no cherry blossoms, / nor crimson leaves— / only a thatched hut by a lagoon / on an autumn evening) Language: Japanese

signature: 春信画, printed[?], lower middle Transliteration (Translation): Harunobu ga (picture [by] Harunobu) Language: Japanese

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

32.77

Copyright

public domain

Terms

Edo

Japanese woodblock prints

nishiki-e

oban

poetry

relief printing

relief prints

The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection

woodcuts

Description

The Three Evening Poems are famous verses composed in the late twelfth century on the contemplative topic of Autumn Evening. Harunobu recasts the original poets as elegantly attired women, perhaps courtesans of the licensed quarter.

The woman seated at right, gazing out at the rustic landscape, stands in for the poet Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241), whose verse reads:

Miwataseba!T!As far as the eye can see, hana mo momiji mo!T!no cherry blossoms, nakarikeri!T!nor crimson leaves— ura no tomaya no!T!only a thatched hut by a lagoon aki no yūgure!T!on an autumn evening

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.