Cherries and Tea

anonymous, c. 1820 - c. 1830

In this surimono it is clear to see that text and image form a single entity. The various components ensure that the composition is beautifully balanced. An undulating movement starts with the tea caddy in the brocade case and flows via the twig with the two cherries to the lines of verse. Each element has its place.

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono
  • Object numberRP-P-1995-300
  • Dimensionsheight 133 mm x width 196 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments and tsuyazuri

anonymous

Tea Caddy in Cloth Wrapper

Japan, Japan, c. 1820 - c. 1830

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer Bernard Haase, London, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1993;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 68, cat. no. 155 by whom donated to the museum, 1995

Object number: RP-P-1995-300

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

Entry

A tea caddy, chaire, in an exquisite brocade-cloth wrapper, decorated with stylised chrysanthemums and paulownias. Next to it a spray of cherries.

The chrysanthemums allude to the Imperial chrysanthemum crest, kiku no gomon, the paulownias to the Imperial paulownia crest, kiri no gomon.

Judging from the printing technique, this exquisitely printed design seems to have been made in Osaka. The spray of cherries is printed without a line-block. The design is printed on crêped paper.

One poem by Sanjuroku Uroko.

Issued by the poet
Unsigned

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 220

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'anonymous, Tea Caddy in Cloth Wrapper, Japan, c. 1820 - c. 1830', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200382618

(accessed 11 December 2025 06:14:52).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 68, cat. no. 155