- Museum number
- 1909,0406,0.472.1-3
- Title
- Object: Taiko gosai rakuto yukan no zu 太閤五妻洛東遊観之図 (Picture of Hideyoshi and his Five Wives Viewing the Cherry-blossom at Higashiyama)
- Description
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Colour woodblock-printed triptych. Toyotomi Hideyoshi at flower-viewing party with his wife (Kita no Mandokoro), concubines (Lady Kana, Lady Sanjo, Ishida Mitsunari, Lady Matsu no Maru, Okoi-no-kata, Lady Yodo) and attendants. Inscribed, signed and marked.
- Production date
- 1803-1804 (ca.)
- Dimensions
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Height: 36 centimetres (centre)
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Height: 36 centimetres (left)
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Height: 36 centimetres (right)
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Width: 24.30 centimetres (centre)
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Width: 24.90 centimetres (left)
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Width: 24.60 centimetres (right)
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- Curator's comments
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Utamaro created a number of prints showing scenes from the life of the military leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–98), stemming from the enormous popularity of the illustrated biography Ehon Taiko- ki (Picture Book: Annals of the Regent [Hideyoshi]), with text by Takeuchi Kakusai (1770–1826) and pictures by Okada Gyokuzan (1737–1812). This print is based on the illustration ‘Flower-viewing at Daigo’ (Daigo no hanami) in volume ten of part seven of Ehon Taiko- ki that was published in the sixth month, 1802. It shows the actual historical event which took place on the 14th day of the third month, 1598, when Hideyoshi enjoyed a cherry-viewing party at Daigoji temple in the east of Kyoto, in the company of his various wives and concubines. In addition to Hideyoshi himself, the following historical figures are depicted and named: Kita no Mandokoro (consort of Hideyoshi), Lady Yodo, Lady Matsu-no-maru, Okoi-no-kata, Lady Sanjo-, Lady Kana, Ishida Mitsunari and others. This print, showing Hideyoshi at the height of his greatness, was praised in Gaidan bunbun shu-yo- of 1860 by Ishizuka Ho- kaishi (1799–1861) as ‘very splendidly done’ (‘shigoku no deki’). This source also says that the print was banned at the same time as the illustrated book Ehon Taiko- ki, in the fifth month, 1804. Since Miyatake Gaikotsu’s Hikka-shi (History of Censored Writings) of 1911, the print was held to be the original cause of the banning of Ehon Taiko- ki, but this theory is no longer sustained. Rather, we should consider Utamaro’s punishment as collateral to his links with Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769–1825) and others. [SS]
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Asano and Clark 1995
This work was designed in response to the wave of popularity of ‘Picture Book: Annals of the Regent [Hideyoshi]’ (Ehon Taiko-ki), with illustrations by Okada Gyokuzan. It is based on an actual historical incident which took place on the 15th day of the third month, 1598, when the dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi held a flower-viewing party at Godai-ji Temple in Kyoto, the so-called "Godai flower-viewing". The names of Hideyoshi's concubines and attendants are given in the print (left to right): Lady Kana, Lady Sanjo, Ishida Mitsunari, Lord Hideyoshi the Regent, Lady Matsu no Maru, Okoi-no-kata, Lady Yodo, Kita no Mandokoro (Consort of the Regent). According to ‘Gaidan bunbun shuyo’ by Ishizuka Hokaishi, this design was extremely popular. On the 16th day of the fifth month, 1804, Utamaro was sentenced to be handcuffed for having designed colour prints based on the book ‘Ehon Taiko-ki’. But it is not clear whether or not this particular picture was the direct cause. See also the commentary to the following, cat. no. 433.
Literature:
Shibui, Kiyoshi 渋井清, 'Ukiyo-e zuten, vol. 13: Utamaro' 「ウキヨエ図典13 歌麿」, Kazama Shobo, Tokyo, 1964, pls. 40-3-1, 40-3-2, 40-3-3.
"Kitagawa Utamaro sakuhin mokuroku" 「喜多川歌麿作品目録」, 'Ukiyo-e shuka', 「浮世絵聚花」, vol. 3 (Bosuton Bijutsukan III ボストン美術館3), Shogakkan, Tokyo, 1978, pp. 235-254, pl. 511.
'Ukiyo-e shuka' 「浮世絵聚花」, vol. 3, Shogakkan, Tokyo, 1978-85, black and white figs. 26-28.
‘Hizo Ukiyo-e taikan’「秘蔵浮世絵大観」, gen. ed. Narazaki, Muneshige, vol. 10, Kodansha, Tokyo, 1987-90, black and white fig. 105.
Other impressions:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Bruxelles.
The Art Institute of Chicago.
The Japan ‘Ukiyoe’ Museum 日本浮世絵博物館, Matsumoto.
Honolulu Academy of Arts.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Ota Memorial Museum of Art 太田記念美術館, Tokyo.
Tokyo National Museum 東京国立博物館.
Henri Vever Collection.
Worcester Art Museum (Mass.).
[Main text translated in Japanese below / 以下上記本文日本語訳]
浅野/クラーク 1995
岡田玉山画『絵本太閤記』の流行に乗って描いた作品。慶長3年(1598)3月15日、豊臣秀吉が京都の醍醐寺で行ったいわゆる醍醐の花見を下敷きにしたもの。画中の書き入れは、右から「かな殿」「三條殿」「石田三成」「太閤秀吉公」「松の丸殿」「お古伊の方」「淀殿」「北の政所」。石塚豊芥子編の『街談文々集要』によると、この絵は大評判となったらしい。歌麿は、文化元年(1804)5月16日、太閤記関連の錦絵を描いたことで手鎖に処せられているが、この絵が直接の対象となったかどうかは明らかでない。次図の解説参照。
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
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Exhibited:
2013 3 Oct - 2014 5 Jan, London, BM, Shunga: Sex and pleasure in Japanese art, 1600-1900
- Acquisition date
- 1909
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1909,0406,0.472.1-3