…; collection J.H.W. Goslings (1943-2011), Epse, near Deventer;¹¹Coll. cat. Goslings 1999, p. 178, cat. no. 264 by whom donated to the museum, 1991

Object number: RP-P-1991-498

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

Each of the prints in this series of ten designs - all of which are known - combines two images within differently shaped cartouches. On some, the two images appear to be connected, while the combinations on others seem quite illogical, making it difficult to establish the idea behind this series. They all have the poetry on a narrow poetry-slip, tanzaku, to the right, decorated with the emblem of the Honchoren.

For others of the series, see:
Court couple writing verse²²Keyes, Roger S., Surimono: Privately Published Japanese Prints in the Spencer Museum of Art. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International Ltd., 1984, p. 31; Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Paintings /.../ 15 December 1988. London: Sotheby's London, 1988, p. 380.
Entrance to Yoshiwara/Courtesan with junior apprentice³³Hempel, Rose, Japanische Holzschnitte. Neuerwerbungen der Sammlung Theodor Scheiwe. Cologne: W. Muller, 1969, p. 197; Hempel, Rose, Ukiyo-e. Die Kunst der heiteren vergänglichen Welt, Japan 17.?19. Jahrhundert, Sammlung Scheiwe. Recklinghuisen: Bongers, 1972, p. 391; (Meiji-period facsimile; original: AIC), Keyes, 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, Appendix, p. 11.
Pine tree and rising sun/Female Immortal riding a dragon⁴⁴Polster, Edythe and Alfred H. Marks, Surimono: Prints by Elbow. Washington, D.C.: Lovejoy Press, 1980, p. 67-2; Keyes, Roger S., Surimono: Privately Published Japanese Prints in the Spencer Museum of Art. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International Ltd., 1984, p. 32; Keyes, 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. 45; Japanese Prints, Illustrated Books and Paintings /.../ 15 December 1988. London: Sotheby's London, 1988, p. 380 (no ill.)
Plum tree/Dreaming woman⁵⁵Polster, Edythe and Alfred H. Marks, Surimono: Prints by Elbow. Washington, D.C.: Lovejoy Press, 1980, p. 93-3; Japanische Surimono, Sale Catalogue, 10 September-3 October 1987, Vienna: Galerie Zacke 1987, p. 29.
Two samurai by a lantern/Parading courtesans⁶⁶Boisgirard, Claude and Axel de Heeckeren, Très importante collection de 750 surimono, de calendriers, de nagaye, et d’oban. Paris, Drouot, 12?15 décembre 1977. Paris: 1977, p. 76; Carpenter, John T. (ed.), Reading Surimono: The Interplay of Text and Image in Japanese Prints: With a Catalogue of the Marino Lusy Collection. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2008, p. 38..

A circular cartouche with the bust portrait of a geisha holding an open fan on a ground of repeated blossoms. A fan-shaped cartouche with a peacock on the stem of a plum tree below.

The emblem on the geisha's fan, which is also repeated in the cartouche in which the poem is inscribed, is probably the poet's personal emblem, shaped as the stylised character ‘Nao’ for Naonari. The other emblem is that of the Honchoren.

Print from A Series of Ten Prints for the Honchoren, Honchoren Jubantsuzuki.

One poem by Asanoya Naonari [probably identical to Takenoya Naonari, a judge of the Honchoren].⁷⁷Kano, Kaian (ed.), Kyoka jinmei jisho (Dictionary of Names of Kyoka Poets). Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1977 (1928), p. 161.
In the poem, the peacock's tail is likened to the rays of the sun:
The peacock has appeared - the playful sun of early Spring turns its long tail to gold.

The poet Naonari was apparently wealthy enough to always appear alone on surimono .

Meiji-period (1868-1912) facsimile after the original print published in c. 1822.
Issued anonymously
Signature reading: Gakutei, with seal: Sadaoka

M. Forrer, Surimono in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Leiden 2013, no. 419

M. Forrer, 2013, 'Yashima Gakutei, Geisha and Peacock on Plum Tree, Japan, 1868 - 1912', in Surimono from the Goslings Collection in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200485397