Two Ladies and a Man Seen from the Back

Kubota Shunman (mentioned on object), 1809

Twee vrouwen met elk een gedicht in hun hand. Met de rug naar hen toe staat de krijger Soga no Goro, herkenbaar aan het embleem van de vlinder op de rug van zijn kimono. De vrouw met het vlinder patroon op haar kimono is zijn minnares; de andere vrouw de minnares van zijn broer. Het uitwisselen van gedichten was een belangrijk onderdeel in het aangaan van relaties. Het gedicht op de poëziestroken die de vrouwen vasthouden verwijst naar rivaliteit tussen beide dames over de liefde van Soga no Goro.

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono
  • Object numberRP-P-1991-622
  • Dimensionsheight 135 mm x width 185 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting

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Vier vlinders

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Pioenrozen en irissen

after print by Kubota Shunman (mentioned on object), c. 1890 - c. 1900

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Kubota Shunman (mentioned on object), c. 1815 - c. 1820

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Lobster and Shells

Kubota Shunman (mentioned on object), c. 1800 - c. 1805

Lobster and Shells

Rotsen, golven en de opkomende maan

after print by Kubota Shunman (mentioned on object), c. 1890

Rotsen, golven en de opkomende maan

Kubota Shunman

Two Ladies and a Man Seen from the Back

Japan, Japan, 1809

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer Robin Kennedy Fine Japanese Prints, Richmond, England, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1987;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 51, cat. no. 112 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-622

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

The artist

Biography

Kubota Shunman (1757-1820), popularly called Kubo Shunman, was a pupil of Kitao Shigemasa who was also strongly influenced by Torii Kiyonaga and Katsukawa Shuncho. He created an attractive blend of the various ideals of feminine beauty prevalent in his time. He also used the art name Shosado. In addition to designing prints and making paintings, he was a poet and a writer and ran a studio that produced surimono. It was probably in this capacity that he introduced some of the innovations of the mid-Bunka period (1809-13), exploring the concept of large series of shikishiban surimono.

Entry

Two ladies, both of them holding a poetry-slip, tanzaku, a warrior standing behind them.

The emblems on the ladies' clothing identify them as the mistresses of the two Soga brothers - at right, oiso no Tora, the mistress of the elder Soga no Juro Sukenari; at left, Kewaizaka no Shosho, the mistress of the younger brother, Soga no Goro Tokimune. Behind them is Soga no Goro, identified by the butterfly emblem on his kimono.

The date 'New Snake Year', Tsuchinoto mi no haru, i.e., 1809, appears on the end of the sash of the lady at right.

One poem by Kichotei Norimaru [or Togan?]. The poem probably alludes to the butterflies identifying Kewaizaka no Shosho and reads:
The butterfly settles down on the golden petals of the flowers of Michinoku [Mutsu Province] but the Eastern wind blows it away.

Issued by the poet
Seal reading: Shunman
Produced by the Shunman Studio

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 76

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Kubota Shunman, Two Ladies and a Man Seen from the Back, Japan, 1809', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200467460

(accessed 10 December 2025 23:02:33).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 51, cat. no. 112