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The Calligraphy Lesson
Katsushika Hokusai (mentioned on object), 1803
Een vrouw geeft een jong meisje les in kalligrafie. Met één gedicht.
- Artwork typeprint, surimono
- Object numberRP-P-1991-678
- Dimensionsheight 138 mm x width 186 mm
- Physical characteristicsnishikie, with metallic pigments
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Identification
Title(s)
The Calligraphy Lesson
Series title(s)
- Een serie van zesendertig traditionele prestaties
- Shogei sanjûroku no tsuzuki (series title on object)
Object type
Object number
RP-P-1991-678
Description
Een vrouw geeft een jong meisje les in kalligrafie. Met één gedicht.
Inscriptions / marks
collector's mark, recto, stamped: Lugt 2971
Part of catalogue
Catalogue reference
- Forrer 101
- Goslings 38
Creation
Creation
- print maker: Katsushika Hokusai (mentioned on object), Japan
- dichter: Asakuraan (mentioned on object), Japan
Dating
1803
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Material and technique
Physical description
nishikie, with metallic pigments
Dimensions
height 138 mm x width 186 mm
Explanatory note
Een surimono is een luxe uitgevoerde prent waarop beeld met één of meerdere gedichten gecombineerd is. Bij het drukken van een surimono werd vaak gebruik gemaakt van dikker papier, blinddruk en metaal pigmenten, zoals koper- en zilverpoeder. De prenten werden vaak in opdracht van dichters gemaakt en als exclusief geschenk aan vrienden en relaties gegeven.
This work is about
Subject
Acquisition and rights
Credit line
Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Acquisition
gift 1991
Copyright
Provenance
…; the dealer or collection Hayashi Tadamasa (1853-1906) (L. 2971);…; purchased from the dealer C.P.J. van der Peet Japanese Prints, Amsterdam, by J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer, 1991;{Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 25, cat. no. 38} by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Documentation
Persistent URL
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Katsushika Hokusai
The Calligraphy Lesson
Japan, Japan, 1803
Inscriptions
stamped: lower right, in red ink, with seal of Hayashi Tadamasa
Provenance
…; the dealer or collection Hayashi Tadamasa (1853-1906) (L. 2971);…; 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. 25, cat. no. 38 by whom donated to the museum, 1991
Object number: RP-P-1991-678
Credit line: Gift of J.H.W. Goslings, Epse
Context
For other Hokusai designs from this series, see:
Chanoyu: Tea ceremony -2Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Paintings /.../ 15 December 1988. London: Sotheby's London, 1988, p. 330.,3Narazaki, Muneshige (ed.), Hizo //Ukiyoe = ukiyoe// taikan, vol. 8. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1989, 46, and pl. 199.,4Fujisawa Morihiko korekushon surimono o chuushin to shite (The Fujisawa Morihiko Collection: with a Stress on Surimono) Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum of Art, 1998, 148.
Kyoka: A woman about to inscribe a fan -5Narazaki, Muneshige (ed.), Hizo //Ukiyoe = ukiyoe// taikan, vol. 8. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1989, 77, and pl. 200.
Woman with lantern by a gate discovers Yoshitsune playing the flute;
Two women making sand and stone landscapes;
Dengaku dancing: Three dancers;
A monkey trainer;
Boy by New Year's decorations lifting a sake cup.
The artist
Biography
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) first studied with Katsukawa Shunsho but later developed his own style. He was occasionally influenced by various other traditions, and designed thousands of calendar prints and surimono from 1787 until about 1810. His surimono production diminished in the 1810s but he resumed his former output between 1321 and 1825. He is best known for his landscape prints of the 1830s.
Entry
A woman helps a young girl hold a brush before she dips it in the ink and writes on a large sheet of paper on a writing table.
Calligraphy, Sho, from A Series of Thirty-six Traditional Accomplishments, Shogei sanjuroku no tsuzuki.
One poem by Asakuraan [Hashi no] Sansho [a judge of the Tsubogawa].6Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 82.
The Six Traditional Accomplishments, Rikugei, a concept dating from as early as the Chinese Eastern Chou dynasty (770-c. 256), consist of etiquette, music, archery, horsemanship, literature, calligraphy, and mathematics. Exactly how the Tsubogawa decided on the 36 accomplishments of this series is difficult to say. The series was jointly produced by Hokusai and his pupil Hishikawa Sori. The dating given here, 1803, or 'New Year of the Boar', Mizunoto i no toshi, appears on several other designs in the series.
Issued by the Asakusagawa (also known as Tsubogawa)
Signature reading: Gakyojin Hokusai ga
Literature
M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 101
Citation
M. Forrer, 2013, 'Katsushika Hokusai, The Calligraphy Lesson, Japan, 1803', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200415828
(accessed 6 December 2025 21:32:50).Footnotes
- 1Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 25, cat. no. 38
- 2Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Paintings /.../ 15 December 1988. London: Sotheby's London, 1988, p. 330.
- 3Narazaki, Muneshige (ed.), Hizo //Ukiyoe = ukiyoe// taikan, vol. 8. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1989, 46, and pl. 199.
- 4Fujisawa Morihiko korekushon surimono o chuushin to shite (The Fujisawa Morihiko Collection: with a Stress on Surimono) Tokyo: Ota Memorial Museum of Art, 1998, 148.
- 5Narazaki, Muneshige (ed.), Hizo //Ukiyoe = ukiyoe// taikan, vol. 8. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1989, 77, and pl. 200.
- 6Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 82.











