…; purchased from the dealer Hotei Japanese Prints, Leiden, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1986;¹¹Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 53, cat. no. 117 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-588

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

It is likely that the poet Ryusai Chimata - who placed a large circular seal reading `Ryusai' on the print - was the owner of the Ryusai Studio that produced surimono by various designers, e.g., the untitled hexaptych by Shinsai (RP-P-1958-522, RP-P-1958-523, RP-P-1958-524, RP-P-1958-525, RP-P-1958-525X and RP-P-1958-526), Chiharu (RP-P-1958-558) and Kunisada (RP-P-1958-460). Chikuho Suga also has Chimata as the compiler of a manuscript associated with Yomo no Utagaki Magao, dating to 1810.²²Suga, Chikuho, Kyoka shomoku shusei. Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977, p. 53.

A still life of the protective cloth case for a zither, koto, decorated with floral motifs, two koto-bridges in the foreground.

This design conforms to the vogue for books on antiquities or rarities preserved in various provinces of Japan, which started in the late 18th century. It may even be directly based on an illustration in one such publication.

Two poems by Ryusai Chimata and Nanbogaki Makaze [a judge of the Yomogawa].

The Cloth Wrapper for the Sceptre and Koto Bridges Preserved at the Horyuji in Nara, Nanto Horyuji shozo shakugoromo narabi kotoji no zu.

Issued by the poets
Unsigned
Produced by the Ryusai [Chimata] Studio

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 196

M. Forrer, 2013, 'anonymous, A Cloth Wrapper and Koto Bridges, Japan, c. 1800 - c. 1805', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200467504