Six Tama [Jewel] Rivers in Various Provinces

Maker(s)
Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797-1858)
Historical period(s)
Edo period, 1857
Medium
Ink and color on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 33.8 x 22.8 cm (13 5/16 x 9 in)
Geography
Japan
Credit Line
The Anne van Biema Collection
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S2004.3.235
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Print
Type

Woodblock print

Keywords
Anne van Biema collection, Edo period (1615 - 1868), Japan, landscape, monk, oban, poems, priest, river, ukiyo-e
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Label

Within a landscape image of the Tama (Jewel) River at Mount Koya is a poem by the Buddhist priest Kukai (Kobo Daishi, 774-835), founder of the great monastery, Kongobuji. In the landscape, along the edge of the river, stands the elderly priest, who is attended by a young monk. Kukai's poem, which is included in the imperial anthology compiled in 1343-46 by Emperor Kogon (1313-1364), reads:



Forgetting the taboo
against drinking it,
travelers have ladled
water from the Tama River
in the recesses of Mount Køya.

This print is from a series called Six Tama (Jewel) Rivers, a subject that first appeared in 1659 in paintings in Edo Castle by Kano Tan'yv (1602-1674), an official painter who served the Tokugawa shoguns and the imperial family.

Translation of poem by John T. Carpenter

Published References
  • Ann Yonemura, et al. Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection. Seattle and Washington. cat. 127, pp. 308-309.
Collection Area(s)
Japanese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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