Man and Woman by a Palanquin

anonymous, 1799

Een vrouw plukt kruiden terwijl een staande man en een man in een draagstoel toekijken. De aanduiding voor de lange maanden van het jaar 1799 zijn afgebeeld op witte doek die over de buik van de staande man hangt. De korte maanden staan op de hoofddoek van de vrouw.

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono, egoyomi (kalenderblad)
  • Object numberRP-P-1991-682
  • Dimensionsheight 176 mm x width 130 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie

anonymous

Man and Woman by a Palanquin

Japan, 1799

Inscriptions

  • lower left, in red ink, seal of the blockcutter, chōkō Okamoto Shōgyo (II?)

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer C.P.J. van der Peet Japanese Prints, Amsterdam, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1991;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 98, cat. no. 166 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-682

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

Context

Japanese reference works do not distinguish between an Okamoto Shogyo I, and a second block-cutter of this name. It would be a rare case if a craftsman sufficiently skilled in the new technique of full-colour printing by 1765 was still active by 1799. Therefore, it is assumed here that the block-cutter Okamoto Shogyo responsible for the blocks used in printing this design was the second of the name, probably active from 1786 to 1799, Shogyo I probably being active from 1765 to 1775.

The printing of the design in rather flat coloured areas as well as the block-cutter's seal stamped in the lower left corner are more reminiscent of egoyomi of the 1780s than of prints of the late Kansei period (1789-1801).

Entry

A man, a pipe in one hand and a set of smoking utensils in the other, turns his head as he passes a woman kneeling by a palanquin. The woman holds a plant she has just picked, apparently showing it to an older man seated in the palanquin on the ground.

This print is a picture calendar, egoyomi, for 1799, with the numerals for the long months, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9 and 12, printed on the man's towel, tenugui, tucked under his sash, and chose for the short months, 1, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11, on the woman's tenugui.

One poem by Hokentei Migaku. The poem refers to the young herbs the woman is picking.

Issued by the poet
Unsigned
Block-cutter: Okamoto Shogyo (II?)

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 22

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'anonymous, Man and Woman by a Palanquin, Japan, 1799', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200426475

(accessed 4 December 2025 11:19:26).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 98, cat. no. 166