The Jewel River of Plovers, a Famous Place in Mutsu Province (Chidori no Tamagawa, Mutsu meisho)
Original title: “The Jewel River of Plovers, a Famous Place in Mutsu Province,” from the series Six Jewel Rivers (Mu Tamagawa: Chidori no Tamagawa, Mutsu meisho)
kurzbeschreibung
A woman and a child stand on the bank of a river, with bamboo and hills around them. Suzuki Harunobu produced this scene as a woodblock print in ink and colour on paper. The sheet belongs to the series Six Jewel Rivers, joining a quiet landscape to the elegant figure style of ukiyo-e.
Description
An adult woman and a child fill the foreground; at their feet a run of clear wave lines suggests the river. The woman wears a wide white-grey hat and a grey robe with orange accents, and carries a small black bag in her hand. The child appears in an orange robe with a brown hat and a cup. Behind the figures rise bamboo and a line of hills, while several birds fly along the upper edge. A cartouche of Japanese characters is set into the top left corner.
Context
The series Six Jewel Rivers (Mu Tamagawa) refers to six famous rivers of Japan, each assigned a jewel. Harunobu is regarded as a pioneer of multicolour woodblock printing (nishiki-e) and did much to shape the ukiyo-e treatment of elegant women and everyday scenes. The province of Mutsu in northern Japan was known for its rugged nature, and the calm river landscape takes up that character.
Impact
Muted colours and precise linework create a still, almost poetic mood that draws the viewer into the picture. The figures' posture and clothing feel at once everyday and idealised, a trait characteristic of Harunobu's style.
Technique
Several colour blocks were used for the printing, one for each area of colour. The clear contours and fine tonal gradations testify to the high craft precision of the Japanese colour woodblock print. Traditional materials, paper and ink, contribute to the durability and luminosity of the colours.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)