The Dancer

…; purchased from the dealer Hotei Japanese Prints, Leiden, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1985;¹¹Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 38, cat. no. 73 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

ObjectNumber: RP-P-1991-579

Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse

This untitled series of dancers is based on the annual Nerimono Festival held in Shinmachi, the licensed quarters in Osaka. In addition to this series of surimono prints, Shigenobu also designed a similar series in the standard oban format, entitled The Nerimono Festival at Shinmachi, Osaka, Osaka Shinmachi nerimono, all on a yellow ground. These are often dated to c. 1822 (Keyes 1973, 24, and 340-45). Some of these prints are, indeed, direct counterparts of the designs in the surimono format. Mirviss & Carpenter date this untitled series to VI/1822²²Mirviss, Joan B. and John T. Carpenter, Jewels of Japanese Printmaking: Surimono of the Bunka-Bunsei Era 1804-1830 (Amerika no 3 josei ga atsumeta Bunka, Bunsei no shugyoku no surimono). Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum of Art & Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 2000, p. 76. a rather improbable date for the issue of a surimono series, although Osaka customs may have been different. Indeed, Keyes³³Keyes, Roger S., ‘“This is What We Accomplished”: an Osaka Print Collector and His Circle’, in: A.R. Newland (ed.), The Commercial and Cultural Climate of Japanese Printmaking, Leiden: Hotei Publishing, p. 127f. suggests that this series of surimono was produced at the same time as the festival that took place in 1822/V.

I believe instead that Shigenobu may have produced the commercial series from 1822/V, initially as oban prints, soon after his arrival in early 1822 (also designing a print later that year commemorating the name change of Arashi Tokusaburo into Arashi Kitsusaburo, 1822/IX, with Hokushu), and the nerimono surimono version only for the New Year of 1823.

This design dates from the period Shigenobu lived and worked in Osaka. This also explains the addition 'from the Eastern Capital', Toto, to the signature. Shigenobu resided there from 1822⁴⁴Ward, Sidney C., One Hundred Surimono in the Collection of Sidney C. Ward. Privately Published, 1976, p. 97; Keyes, Roger S., The Art of Surimono. Privately Published Japanese Woodblock Prints and Books in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 2 vols. London: Sotheby’s Publications, 1985, p. 312; (Nagata 1994, 272) until the spring of 1823 (Nagata, idem), or 1825 (as proposed by Mirviss & Carpenter)⁵⁵Mirviss, Joan B. and John T. Carpenter, The Frank Lloyd Wright Collection of Surimono. New York: Weatherhill; Phoenix, Ariz.: Phoenix Art Museum, 1995, p. 76., 1826⁶⁶Ward, Sidney C., One Hundred Surimono in the Collection of Sidney C. Ward. Privately Published, 1976, p. 97. or simply the mid-1820s⁷⁷Keyes, Roger S., The Art of Surimono. Privately Published Japanese Woodblock Prints and Books in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 2 vols. London: Sotheby’s Publications, 1985, p. 312. when he returned to Edo. The last Edo publication he illustrated was issued in 1822, and the first kyoka collection with his illustrations, Kyoka Poems by 50 Poets, Kyoka gojunin isshu, selected by Ki no Osamaru⁸⁸Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977, p. 69. was published in 1823 in Osaka. One anthology is known for the New Year of 1827, the Kyoka and Records of People, Kyoka jinbutsushi, also published in Edo.⁹⁹Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977, p. 73. The dating of this series of surimono is based on his earliest Osaka publications.

Surimono designed during his Osaka period often have poems by poets from that city and, as a great benefit to the quality, were often produced at the Tani Seiko Studio operated by Tani Seikodo Takuboku. After his return to Edo, Shigenobu seems to have only used the signature Yanagawa Reisai - probably to distinguish him from his pupil, known earlier as Shigeyama who started using the signature Yanagawa Shigenobu from 1822. Keyes, however, assumes that Shigenobu II only started using this name from 1833 after his teacher died.¹⁰¹⁰Keyes, Roger S., The Art of Surimono. Privately Published Japanese Woodblock Prints and Books in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 2 vols. London: Sotheby’s Publications, 1985, p. 318. This naturally also has a bearing on the dating of the designs by Shigenobu II, q.v.

For others of the series, including references to prints in the oban nerimono series, see:

Woman dancer with uchiwa

Woman dancer with ogi, chrysanthemum-patterned kimono - Drouot 1980, 3, 151¹¹¹¹Carpenter, John T. (ed.), Reading Surimono: The Interplay of Text and Image in Japanese Prints: With a Catalogue of the Marino Lusy Collection. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2008, p. 222; cf. Wakamurasaki of the Nishi Oriya as a Madwoman, Kyojo, MFA 11.258301

Woman dancer in black over red, long sword¹²¹²Markus, Helena, Surimono. Stampe augurali nel Giappone del ‘700 e ‘800 /.../ Torino. Florence: Luca Giusti, 1983, p. 58; Masterpieces of Ukiyoe from the Pulverer Collection (Doitsu Puruberaa korekushon ukiyoe hanga meihin ten). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1990 (2), p. 39.

Woman holding scroll, Mitate of Kanzan¹³¹³Hillier, Jack R., Japanese Prints and Drawings from the Vever Collection. London: Philip Wilson for Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 1976, p. 796b; Forrer, Matthi, Surimono/egoyomi. Dusseldorf: Ukiyo-e Galerie Herbert Egenolf, 1978, p. 34; Kruml, Richard. Surimono, Catalogue 23. London, 1989 (23), p. 75; Masterpieces of Ukiyoe from the Pulverer Collection (Doitsu Puruberaa korekushon ukiyoe hanga meihin ten). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1990 (2), p. 40; Asano, Shugo, Suijintachi no okurimono. Edo no surimono (Cultivated Gifts: Surimono of the Edo Period). Chiba: Chibashi Bijutsukan, 1997, p. 83; cf. Manjui dayu of the Naka Ogiya, MFA 11.258291

Woman dancer holding a small drum

Woman holding broom, mitate of Jittoku¹⁴¹⁴Schack, Gerhard, Surimono: Japanische Glückwunschblätter aus der Sammlung Gerhard Schack. Lübeck: Overbeck-Gesellschaft 1969, p. 125; Asano, Shugo, Suijintachi no okurimono. Edo no surimono (Cultivated Gifts: Surimono of the Edo Period). Chiba: Chibashi Bijutsukan, 1997, p. 84; Carpenter, John T. (ed.), Reading Surimono: The Interplay of Text and Image in Japanese Prints: With a Catalogue of the Marino Lusy Collection. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2008, p. 221; cf. Hinazuru dayu of the Naka Ogiya, MFA 11.25828; MMA JP1281

Woman with long-handled drumstick - NME, Leiden, 1353-1919, Palmer 357-1 [cf. Yoyogiku of the Kurahashiya in Momijigari, MFA 11.25831]

Woman dancer touching hair and holding ogi (?) - BM 1906,1220,0.299
Woman dancer holding bow¹⁵¹⁵Masterpieces of Ukiyoe from the Pulverer Collection (Doitsu Puruberaa korekushon ukiyoe hanga meihin ten). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1990 (2), p. 41.

Woman dancer with dragon-crown¹⁶¹⁶Polster, Edythe and Alfred H. Marks, Surimono: Prints by Elbow. Washington, D.C.: Lovejoy Press, 1980, p. 361-1. [cf. Nanazuru as Ryoo, BM 1943,0508,0.31]

Geisha by potted irises¹⁷¹⁷Hillier, Jack R., Japanese Prints and Drawings from the Vever Collection. London: Philip Wilson for Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 1976, p. 796a; Keyes, Roger S., Surimono: Privately Published Japanese Prints in the Spencer Museum of Art. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International Ltd., 1984, p. 44; Surimono: Privately Published Prints from the Spencer Museum of Art (Surimono: Edo bunkajin no asobi). Tokyo: Riccar Art Museum, 1991, p. 49.

Geisha holding drumsticks¹⁸¹⁸Mirviss, Joan B. and John T. Carpenter, Jewels of Japanese Printmaking: Surimono of the Bunka-Bunsei Era 1804-1830 (Amerika no 3 josei ga atsumeta Bunka, Bunsei no shugyoku no surimono). Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum of Art & Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 2000, p. 29.

Dancer by saddle, holding bow

Dancer holding coiled snake¹⁹¹⁹Masterpieces of Ukiyoe from the Pulverer Collection (Doitsu Puruberaa korekushon ukiyoe hanga meihin ten). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1990 (2), p. 42..

A woman dancing, a stiff fan in her hand.

Print from an untitled series of Nerimono Festival Dancers.

This untitled series of dancers is based on the annual Nerimono Festival held in Shinmachi, the licensed quarters in Osaka.

One poem by Ki no Takafuru.

Issued by an unidentified poetry club
Sealed: Yanagawa

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 367

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Yanagawa (I) Shigenobu, The Dancer, Japan, c. 1823', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.432601