Golden pheasant among fern shoots

Maker(s)
Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige ζ­Œε·εΊƒι‡ (1797-1858)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, ca. mid 1830s
Medium
Ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 38 x 13 cm (14 15/16 x 5 1/8 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
The Anne van Biema Collection
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S2004.3.222
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Print
Type

Woodblock print

Keywords
Anne van Biema collection, Edo period (1615 - 1868), fern, haiku, Japan, pheasant, ukiyo-e
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

The golden pheasant (kinkei) was one of the exotic birds imported to Japan by Dutch and Chinese traders who were restricted to the southern port of Nagasaki during the Edo period. Hiroshige, who created a large corpus of flower-and-bird prints (kachoga) in the 1830s, here presents an elegant image of the pheasant with its long tail plumage gracefully raised to follow the long, narrow format of the print. Above, a poem is inscribed:

Blundering into
a path where tasty grasses
manage to grow tall.

Translation of poem by Alfred H. Marks (Cynthia J. Bogel, Israel Goldman, and Alfred H. Marks, Hiroshige: Birds and Flowers [New York: George Brazillier Press, 1988])

Published References
  • Ann Yonemura, et al. Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection. Seattle and Washington. cat. 132, pp. 318-319.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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