Temple Servant Leading a White Horse

Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1810

Een vrouwelijke tempeldienaar met hofmuts (eboshi) en een kimono waarop dennentakken voor het nieuwjaar zijn afgebeeld. Ze leidt een schimmel aan de teugels naar een brug. Het paard is een ceremonieel nieuwjaarsgeschenk voor de tempel. Met twee gedichten.

  • Artwork typeprint, surimono
  • Object numberRP-P-1991-554
  • Dimensionsheight 196 mm x width 129 mm
  • Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments and blindprinting

Discover more

more by Ryûryûkyo Shinsai

Fish and Shells

Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1821

Fish and Shells

Figuren bij vijver met bloesem

after print by Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1890 - 1900

Figuren bij vijver met bloesem

Rolls of Fabric

Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), c. 1820

Rolls of Fabric

Removing Clogged Snow

Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1807

Removing Clogged Snow

Courtesan Standing by a Kimono on a Rack

Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1809

Courtesan Standing by a Kimono on a Rack

Dansende courtisane

Ryûryûkyo Shinsai (mentioned on object), 1807

Dansende courtisane

Ryûryûkyo Shinsai

Temple Servant Leading a White Horse

Japan, Japan, Japan, 1810

Provenance

…; collection Edmond de Goncourt (1822-96), Paris;...; purchased from the dealer Hotei Japanese Prints, Leiden, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1984;1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 46, cat. no. 95 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-554

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

The artist

Biography

Ryuryukyo Shinsai (n.d., but often given as 1764?-1820; the latter date is definitely incorrect as his last known designs were issued in 1825) is said to have first been follower of Tawaraya Sori, and later of Katsushika Hokusai, who gave him the art-name Shinsai in 1800. His personal name was Masayuki. He was one of the most prolific designers of surimono in the early 19th century and thoroughly explored the possibilities of issuing works in titled series.

Entry

A female temple servant, a black cap on her head, leads a white horse by its bridle past the stairs leading to a temple veranda. The horse's hair has been tied up in small tufts.

There was a daily custom of leading a sacred white horse, shinme, three times around the Kannon Hall of Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo. The person leading the horse wore a black cap.

Two poems by Jinnichitei Tahirako and Kyokabo Komendo [earlier known as Goyuken Komendo, or also Sakazuki, a judge of the Yomogawa].2Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 243.

Number One, Sono ichi, from the series The Spring Colt, Harugoma.

Issued by an unidentified poetry club
Signature reading: Shinsai ga

Literature

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 165

Citation

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Ryûryûkyo Shinsai, Temple Servant Leading a White Horse, Japan, 1810', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200467490

(accessed 13 December 2025 05:53:58).

Footnotes

  • 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 46, cat. no. 95
  • 2Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 243.