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Little peachling: calendar print for 1765


Suzuki Harunobu, Little peachling: calendar print for 1765, 1765, color woodblock print with embossing on paper; chūban nishiki-e, The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection, public domain, 32.93

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Details
Title

Little peachling: calendar print for 1765

Related Titles

alternate; original language: 見立桃太郎

alternate; translated: A Parody of the Tale of Momotarō

alternate; transliterated: Mitate Momotarō

Artist

Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725?–1770)

Related People

carver: Sekine Kaei (Japanese, active 18th century)

Date

1765

Period

Japan: Edo period (1615-1868)

Medium

color woodblock print with embossing on paper; chūban nishiki-e

Edition

no other known impressions

Catalogue Raisonné

Ukiyoe shūka v. 9, fig. 11

Dimensions (H x W x D)

image/sheet: 8 1/4 in x 11 1/8 in

Inscriptions & Markings

carver's mark: 関根柯影刻, printed in black, lower right Transliteration (Translation): Sekine Kaei koku (carved [by] Sekine Kaei) Language: Japanese

signature: 鈴木春信画, printed in black, lower right Transliteration (Translation): Suzuki Harunobu ga (picture [by] Suzuki Harunobu) Language: Japanese

seal: □木氏印, printed in red within a square, center right Language: Japanese

signature [patron's signature]: 初考工, printed in black, center right Transliteration (Translation): Shokō kō (conceived [by] Shokō) Language: Japanese Description: Signatures ending in kō 工 ('the work of,' 'thought up by') for Meiwa calendar prints are thought to indicate the amateur poets who commissioned the prints; the signatures are enigmatic and use poetry pseudonyms (like Shokō, here).

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

32.93

Copyright

public domain

Terms

calendars

chuban

Edo

embossing

Japanese woodblock prints

nishiki-e

relief printing

relief prints

The Mary Andrews Ladd Collection

woodcuts

Description

Many of Harunobu's earliest full-color nishiki-e are calendar prints. The publication of calendars was restricted by government edict; nevertheless, 1765 and 1766 saw a boom in privately commissioned images with hidden calendrical markings. Here, numerals for the short months of 1765 appear in the pattern of a young woman’s robe. She emerges from a peach in an allusion to the beloved folk tale about Momotarō, the little Peach Boy. Harunobu's name as designer and that of block carver Sekine Kaei appear at the lower right, while the patron, identified as Shokō, is given credit for conceiving the image. The placement and size of these inscriptions points to the hierarchy of contributors to the final product.

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