Awabi and Sayori (Abalone Haliotic tuberculata), from the Great Fish Series

Abalone and the slender sayori, a Japanese fish harvested for food, are the subject of this print.

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Maker(s)
Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige ζ­Œε·εΊƒι‡ (1797-1858)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, ca. 1832
Medium
Ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 25.6 x 36.9 cm (10 1/16 x 14 1/2 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
Gift of John Fuegi and Jo Francis
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1997.35
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Print
Type

Woodblock print

Keywords
abalone, Edo period (1615 - 1868), fish, Japan, ukiyo-e
Provenance

To 1997
Dr. John Fuegi [1]

From 1997
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Dr. John Fuegi [2]

Notes:

[1] See Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Dr. John Fuegi

Description

Abalone and the slender sayori, a Japanese fish harvested for food, are the subject of this print.

Inscription(s)

1. (Ann Yonemura, 10 December 1997) Poems by Kumogaki Fujimi and Miwagaki Mimiki. Poems translated by Ellen Cary and Sally Fisher in "Hiroshige: A Shoal of Fishes".

On rocks and sand and rinsing waves/ the jewel, abalone, polishes itself.

The kimono lining comes out/ now that spring is here/ anad the Sayori fish is cleaned for/ a springtime feast./ (The word for removing the cotton padding from a kimono is the same as the word for cleaning fish.)

I would love to be transformed/ into a creature thin enough/ to follw the abalone/ into the cracks of rocks.

Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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