- Museum number
- 1881,1210,0.1748
- Description
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Painting, hanging scroll. Moon-viewing party on Sumida River: group of gentlemen and geishas in covered pleasure-boat on Sumida River; cook preparing dishes in prow; young boy assistant leaning over edge and washing sake cup in river; geese flying over full moon low on horizon just above far embankment; top of stone gateway to Mimeguri Shrine on embankment; small boat, rowed with single oar at stern, passing by. Ink, colour and gold on silk. Signed and sealed.
- Production date
- 1830-1844
- Dimensions
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Height: 46.20 centimetres
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Width: 71.30 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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Clark 1992
The seventh month, the beginning of autumn, was the favourite time of year for moon-viewing, and in this wide, spacious composition a group of gentlemen and geishas have moored a covered pleasure-boat ('yane-bune') off Imado on the Sumida River to hold such a party. A cook prepares dishes in the prow, while a young boy assistant leans over the edge to wash a sake cup in the river. Autumn geese fly over the full moon which is low on the horizon just above the far embankment: the top of the stone gateway just visible above this embankment is the entrance to Mimeguri Shrine. The other small boat, rowed with a single oar at the stern, is a 'choki-bune' ('boar's tusk' boat), so named after its long, curved shape, which provided a rapid ferry service for customers to and from the nearby Yoshiwara pleasure quarter.
Pleasure-boats on the Sumida River in the various seasons were a favourite subject for several large horizontal compositions by Hokuba: other scrolls show two women embarking a boat at Mimeguri in the snow ('GUDHJ', vol. 2 (1982), no. 470), and a party viewing fireworks close to Ryogoku Bridge in summer (Nagoya 1987, no. 28). River views with foreground figures set against a simple background of the far bank done in Kano-style washes were the perfect composition for Hokuba, who seems to have preferred to avoid difficult middle-distance transitions whenever possible.
Literature:
Anderson, William, 'Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum'. London, Trustees of the British Museum, 1886, no. 1748.
'(Hizo) Ukiyo-e taikan' ('Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections'), ed. Narazaki Muneshige. Vol. 1, Tokyo, Kodansha, 1987, no. 145.
Tokyo-to Bijutsukan (eds), 'Daiei Hakubutsukan hizo Edo bijutsu ten'. Exh. cat., 9 Aug.-24 Sept. 1990, no. 38.
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Asahi 1996
旧暦の7月は、秋の始まりで、一年のうちで一番月見に適した季節であった。横長の広々とした画面に、男と芸者の一行が乗り込んだ屋根舟がみえる。この舟は今戸から出て、隅田川の水上で宴会のために停泊している。舳先では板前が調理をし、手伝いの小僧は身を乗り出して川の水で盃を洗っている。落雁が満月をかすめ、月は遠く川堤の上、地平線ぎりぎりの低いところに出ている。堤から頭をのぞかせるのは三囲神社の鳥居である。もう1叟の船尾の櫓1本でこいでいるのは猪牙舟で、長くて反り上がった形からその名がついたもの。吉原あたりを行き交う客にスピーディな渡し船として用意されていた。
季節ごとの隅田川の屋根舟は、北馬の横長の大ぶりの作品に好んで描かれた画題である。例えば、二人の女が雪の中、舟に乗り込み、川をはさんで三囲が見える作品（『原色浮世絵大百科事典』第2巻 1982年 大修館書店 470図）や、夏に両国橋近くで花火見物をするさまを描いた作品（『新撰浮世絵肉筆展』図録（名古屋松坂屋）1987年 28図）がある。前景に人物を配し、狩野派風に墨でさっと描いた向こう岸とを対比させた川の背景は北馬の最も得意とした構図である。北馬は前景から後景への移行を描くのは難しいのでを[ママ]できるだけ避けていたようである。
（伊藤紫織（千葉市美術館））
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1881
- Acquisition notes
- The collection of over 2,000 Japanese and Chinese paintings assembled by Prof. William Anderson during his residency in Japan, 1873-1880, was acquired by the Museum in 1881. The items were not listed in the register, but rather were published separately as the 'Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of a Collection of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum' (Longmans & Co, 1886).
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1881,1210,0.1748
- Additional IDs
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Asia painting number: Jap.Ptg.1496 (Japanese Painting Number)
