A Collection of Roof Tiles

Shibanoya Sanyô (mentioned on object), c. 1815 - c. 1820

Acht daktegels liggen op een gele achtergrond met daarboven de tekst "Afbeeldingen van Chinese daktegels uit de Ch'ing dynastie" (1644-1912). In de late 18e en 19e eeuw was het verzamelen van Europese en Chinese voorwerpen zeer populair, deze prent weerspiegelt deze mode. Met één gedicht: "Chinese daktegels zijn net als juwelen, ze zijn zo voorspoedig als de woorden voor Geluk; na drie duizend jaar, zullen ze verbrijzeld worden om tot mooie inktstenen gemaakt te worden."

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono
  • Object numberRP-P-1995-301
  • Dimensionsheight 209 mm x width 183 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments

Shibanoya Sanyô

A Collection of Roof Tiles

Japan, Japan, c. 1815 - c. 1820

Provenance

…; purchased from the dealer Hasegawa, Japan, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1993;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 70, cat. no. 160 by whom donated to the museum, 1995

Object number: RP-P-1995-301

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

Context

It is interesting to compare this print with the print depicting Ushiwaka serenading Jorurihime2Keyes, 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. 259. apparently also designed by this poet and featuring an identical decorative border.

The artist

Biography

Shibanoya Sanyo, earlier Sanyodo Sanyo, also Tamashiba Sanyodo or Shibanoya Kamon, was a kyoka poet who studied with Shinratei Manzo, a judge of the Yomogawa from 1796, d. c. 1836.3Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 83. He moved to Kyoto in 1813 where he ran a kyoka Studio, the Kyokadokoro. He changed his name to Kurinomoto Shibanoya Kamon while running the studio. He frequently selected poetry for anthologies as well, which he often published himself. The earliest known are the 1798 Kyoka Annals, Kyoka nendaiki,4Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1936), p. 37. and Kyoka on Rising Clouds, Kyoka tachikumoshu.5Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1936), p. 38. His last anthology, Hazy Songs in Praise of the Eastern Capital, Roei Azuma dofu, dates to 1831.6Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1936), p. 84. He occasionally designed surimono.

Entry

Images of eight roof tiles on a sheet of paper with intricate decorations, a label at top reading 'Images of Chinese Roof Tiles from the Ch'ing Dynasty' [1644-1912], Shinkan kawara no zu. To the right of the tiles inscriptions identifying the types or their origin, such as 'Roof Tile from the Imperial Palace', and so forth.

Collecting antiques, especially those from foreign countries such as China and Europe, was a well-regarded pastime of the cultural elite, particularly in the late 18th-and early 19th centuries. They even organised meetings where participants would bring rare objects, and prizes were awarded for the most surprising novelty. This print undoubtedly reflects this fashion.

One poem by Tamashiba Sanyodo [Sanyo], with two seals, one illegible, the other of Shiba Sanyodo [later Shibanoya Sanyo or also Kamon, studied with Shinratei Manzo, a judge of the Yomogawa from 1796, d. c. 1836].7Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 83. Although written in Japanese, the poem is in Chinese style and consists of four lines:
Chinese roof tiles are like jewels, they are as auspicious as words for Luck; after three thousand years, they will be crushed and made into precious ink stones.

Issued by the poet
Unsigned

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 477

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Shibanoya Sanyô, A Collection of Roof Tiles, Japan, c. 1815 - c. 1820', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200382626

(accessed 8 December 2025 21:56:17).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 70, cat. no. 160
  • 2Keyes, 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. 259.
  • 3Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 83.
  • 4Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1936), p. 37.
  • 5Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1936), p. 38.
  • 6Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1936), p. 84.
  • 7Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 83.